LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Shelf ,.„iE^" 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




17* 



Si\ELE?8S; 

OE, 

THE BAPTIST CHURCH 
DISSECTED. 

BY HIRAM PLANK. 



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$9 "Woe unto them that call evil (>| 
ji|;] good, and good evil; ihat put Q\ 
a*/) darkness for light, and light for - 



darkness I" (Isai. 5 : 20. ) 



■ 



Avery, 
Published Bu 



1883. 



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. -V 



<f5 



"Entered according to act of Con- 
gress, in the year 1883, Iby Hiram Plank, 
in the office of the Librarian of Con- 
gress, at Washington.' 5 



a ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 



OF GONGRESSJ 

WASHING 



INTRODUCTION. 



XUtfGING from the title of 
** this book, it may Ibe presumed 
that the author designs ridiculing and 
abusing, and, perhaps, misrepresent- 
ing the Baptist church. The author, 
however, has no disposition to abuse, 
and the reader may rest assured that 
he will not be misrepresented by the 
writer. The author designs showing, 
in a plain, simple manner, that no one 
of the various Baptist churches is the 
Church of Christ, and that all of them 
combined do not constitute that Church. 
Baptists of all denominations claim 
immediate connection with the apos- 
tles. Roman Catholics claim the same 
identity. I will also come out boldly 
and take the position that the United- 
Christian Church is apostolic ; or has 
the foundation laid for the final resto- 
ration of the Apostolic Church, with 
her doctrines and usages. 

3 



I^TKODUCTION. 

It is not my object, in this essay, to 
treat on the United-Christian organiza- 
tion, as I have a separate work, enti- 
tled, "The Church out of the wilder- 
ness," devoted to that subject. 

It is not that I delight in discussion, 
or take pleasure in opposing those who 
differ from me in sentiment, that I en- 
gage in the prosecution of the subject 
proposed; but it is because Baptists 
generally (though there are excep- 
tions ), have taken a decided stand a- 
gainst the United-Christian Church; 
endeavoring ( not by fair means only, 
but many of them have resorted to 
misrepresentation and falsehood) to 
make it appear to the world as a mon- 
strous heresy. 

I do not wish to deprive any person 
of his privileges or opinions, but claim 
the right to defend my own. 

I expect to show, in the following 
pages, that the various Baptist Church- 
es are not apostolic; or, that they are 
not the immediate successors of the 
apostles, and, therefore, not the Church 
4 



INTRODUCTION. 

of Christ, as they claim to be. 

If, in the prosecution of this work, 
it becomes necessary to do so, I shall 
epeak plainly, but not with intent to 
give offence; for I have many friends 
and near relatives who are members of 
the Baptist Church; or rather, of Bap- 
tist churches. 

I design proving facts; and no honest, 
impartial reader will take exceptions 
to the truth. 

If a Baptist, who may read the fol- 
lowing pages, considers himself mis- 
represented, let him consider again, 
that it is his own historians that have 
misrepresented him; for I expect to 
draw my evidence principally from 
Baptist histories and the bible. 

I will make one request of the read- 
er (and I think it a reasonable one), 
that is, that he reads the following- 
pages impartially, and then act accor- 
ding to his convictions. 

Q-od is love, and christians are com- 
manded to love one another; and union 
is an essential element in securing to 

5 



introduc now. 

christians this God-like and God-hon- 
oring principle of lore. I was once a 
member of a Baptist church, and I am 
not misrepresenting Baptists when I 
say I could not, while I was a member 
of that body, enjoy that union which is 
so dear to a christian : and the obvious 
reason is. their platform is not suffi- 
ciently broad to admit all christians in- 
to union and fellowship. And without 
union and fellowship, christians are 
not in a healthy state of prosperity. 

As before stated. I doubt not that 
there are many christians in the vari- 
ous Baptist denominations, yea, thou- 
sands of them; and to such I say, open 
wide your eyes, that is, the eyes of your 
understanding, and you may be con- 
vinced: and, if so, may God help you 
net to hazzard your better interest by 
remaining obstinate, but to come out 
of Babylon, that you be not partaker 
of her sins, and that you receive not of 
her plagues. 

Few people like to be convinced of 
their errors ; and fewer still, like to 



INTKODUCTIOtf. 

abandon their errors, when convinced: 
especially, in matters of religion. It 
should, however, be a source of raptur- 
ous joy to the benighted nations of 
earth, to learn that the church of Christ 
is out of the wilderness, and that the 
sanctuary is soon to be cleansed. I 
would have the reader bear in mind the 
leading proposition of this subj ect, viz.. 
That the Baptist Church, as an organ- 
ized body, does not constitute the 
Church of Christ. In order to keep this 
subject constantly "before the mind of 
the reader, I will occasionally, after 
presenting abundence of testimony, re- 
iterate the matter, by way of recapitu- 
lation. 

Be it remembered that no reader has 
a right to dispute, or even doubt the au- 
thenticity of what I may write in the 
following pages, until he has carefully 
examined the histories to which I shall 
refer, and then he cannot doubt. I am 
not writing from any feeling of mal- 
ice ; but, being fully sensible of my 
own imperfections, I am impressed with 

7 



INTRODUCTION. 

a sense of deep humiliation. My object 
is to arouse the sensibilities of the read- 
er. We may read, but unless our un- 
derstanding is awake to the subject, we 
gain no information: — we are perfectly 
blind. How often our eyes gaze upon an 
object, and yet we do not perceive that 
object ! ( Seeing we see not. ) And what 
strange feelings of surprise come over 
us when we are awakened to our delu- 
sion ! Thus I can heartily sympathise 
with those whose errors I would expose. 
I endured, long and patiently, the a- 
buses and misrepresentations of Bap- 
tists, using every means in my power 
to effect a reconciliation, before I en- 
gaged in the prosecution of this work, 
but all in vain. They challenged, and 
even defied me to oppose them. 

And do you think, my Baptist friend, 
That I'm afraid of man or fiend ? 
I'll let you know before I'm done, 
I'm not afraid of either one. 

8 



THE BAPTIST SKELETON. 
CHAP. 1. 

u Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias 
prophesy of you, saying, This people 
draweih nigh unto me with their mouth, 
and honoureth me loith their lips; 
but their heart is far from me" 
Matt, 15: 7, 8. 

T TINDER certain circumstances, 
and in certain cases, it might be 
necessary to go back into the Old Tes- 
tament scriptures, search diligently, 
and criticise closely, to ascertain the 
exact time of the commencement of 
the Christian Church. It is argued by 
some that Christ's Church commenced 
with the Abrahamic covenant, and that 
the church to-day is only a perpetua- 
2 



10 THE BAPTIST 

tion of that same covenant, with a few 
slight changes. Baptists, however, 
claim no such antiquity, so it is not nec- 
essary to go back further for the com- 
mencement of this essay than to the 
commencement of the New Testament. 

I will now engage more immediately 
in the investigation of the subject 
proposed, and endeavor to show that 
the various Baptist sects do not con- 
stitute the Church of Christ, and are 
not the immediate successors of the 
apostles. 

When I speak of Baptists, or of the 
Baptist church or churches, I would 
be understood as having reference to 
Baptists generally, without reference 
to any particular sect, unless I make 
a distinction for a special purpose; 
as the various Baptist sects all claim 
thier descent through the same 
medium. 



SKELETON. 11 

Baptists claim that the Christian 
Church was set up in the days of John 
the Baptist, and that John was the per- 
sonage by whom it was set up ; and that 
he was a member of Christ's Church. 
Some of them even profess to believe 
that Baptist is the name by which 
the Lord promised to call his servants. 
One of their strongest arguments in 
favor of the church having been set 
up in the days of John the Baptist, is 
based on a prophecy of Daniel, and 
reads as follows ; "And in the days of 
these kings shall the God of heaven set 
up a kingdom, which shall never be de - 
stroyed: and the kingdom shall not be 
left to other people, but it shall break 
in pieces and consume all these king- 
doms, and it shall stand for ever." 
(Dan. 2: 44.) 

Baptists say that the kings to whom 
the prophet had reference, and in the 



12 THE BAPTIST 

days of whom he says the God of heav- 
en shall set up a kingdom, were the 
ten Cesars. Such argument is, how- 
ever, utter fallacy, designed to sustain 
a favorite, theory. John the Baptist 
lived in the days of some of the Cesars, 
and if the Religious "World can be 
made believe that those kings were the 
ten Cesars, it would be easy to per- 
suade the people into the belief that 
the church of Christ was set up in the 
days of John, and that Baptist is the 
proper name for the church. The king- 
doms to which the prophet has refer- 
ence are, however, only thr t ee. All that 
is necessary for a person to do to know 
that there are not ten kings or king- 
doms spoken of in the text, viz., the 44 
verse of the 2 chapter of Dan., is, to 
read carefully the entire chapter. The 
time this remarkable prophecy took 
place was while the Jews were captives 



.SKELETON. 13 

in Babjdon. Nebuchadnezzer, king of 
Babylon, had dreamed a very re- 
markable dream, and was troubled 
to know the interpretation. The king, 
in his dream, saw a great image stand 
before him, coucisting of gold, silver, 
brass, iron, and clay. The head of 
this image was of o;old : his breast and 
his arms, of silver ; his belly and his 
thighs, of brass; his legs, of iron; his 
feet, part of iron and part of clay. Says 
the prophet, "Thou sawest till that a 
stone was cut out witho-ut hands, which 
smote the image upon his feet, which 
were of iron and clay, and break them 
to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, 
the brass, the silver and the gold, bro- 
ken to pieces together, and became like 
the chaff of the summer threshing- 
floors ; and the wind carried them away 
that no place w r as found for them: and 
the stone that smote them became a 



14 THE BAPTIST 

great mountain, and filled the whole 
earth. 

The king was fehen informed that he 
was this great head of gold. 

Nebuchadnezzer's kingdom was a 
kingdom of pagan idolatry. See what 
a great golden image he set up: three- 
score cubits high and six cubits broad. 
( See Dan. 3: 1. ) His dominion had also 
become universal. ( See Dan. 4 : 22. ) 
The stone that was cut out without 
hands smote this great image until it 
became like the chaff of the summer 
thresh ingfloors, and the wind carried 
it away, so that there was no place 
found for it. So, of course, it was at an 
end. "And after thee," says the proph- 
et to the king, "shall arise another 
kingdom inferior to thee ; and another 
third kingdom of brass, which shall 
bear rule over the whole earth. "And 
the fourth kingdom shall be strong 



SKELETON. 15 

as Iron," &e. 

Here we have four kingdoms brought 
to view; Nebuchadnezzer's being the 
first, and three more after him. What 
was this stone which was cut out with" 
out hands i It was the Church of Christ' 
so taken and accepted by all writers 
of note I have ever read on the subject. 
When was Nebuehadnezzer's kingdom 
set up ? was it before the cutting out of 
the stone, or afterwards? Before, of 
course ; for Nebuchadnezzer, in his 
dream, saw until that a stone was cut 
out without hands, and smote the im- 
age. When were the other three king- 
doms set up? before, or after the cut- 
ting out of the stone ? These three 
kingdoms were all brought into exist- 
ence after the stone was cut out, had 
broken to pieces the image, or king- 
dom of Nebuchadnezzar, and had be- 
come a great mountain, which filled 



16 THE BAPTIST 

the whole earth. "And in the days of 
these [three] kings shall ihe God of 
heaven set up a kingdom." 

From the foregoing it is evident that 
these kings or kingdoms, were three ;— 

not ten — also that the church of Christ 
was set up long before the rise of these 

kingdoms. Baptists, therefore, cannot, 
make it appear that the Baptist church 
is the kingdom of which the prophet 
speaks, in the forty-fourth verse of 
the second chapter of Daniel, and yet 
identify themselves with John the Bap- 
tist. I have referred to a few passages 
of scripture relati v e to this subj ect ; the 
reader should examiue carefully the 
first four or five chapters of Dan., and 
he w T ill learn that Christ's Church was 
set up long before the rise of these 
three kingdoms. 

I will for the present leave this sub- 
ject, but will, in due time, take it up 



SKELETON. 17 

again, and show what these three king- 
doms are, and what the kingdom is 
that was set up in their days, when it 
was set up, &c. 

Baptists contend that baptism is the 
door into the church. It may be the 
door into their respective churches ; 
yea, they make it the door. Christ, 
however, speaking of his church, says, 
"I am the door." Did John the Baptist 
belong to Christ's Spiritual kingdom? 
I answer, No. Jesus says, "Verily I say 
unto you, among them that are born of 
women there has not risen a greater 
prophet than John the Baptist: not 
withstanding, he that is least in the 
kingdom of heaven is greater than he." 
(Matt. 11:11.) 

That the kingdom of heaven, in 

the foregoing quotation, cannot mean 

Christ's kingdom of glory, after the 

resurrection, is evident ; for Christ says 

3 



18 THE BAPTIST 

in verse 9, of the chapter last quoted, 
that; John was more than a prophet. If, 
therefore, he was one amongst the 
greatest of the prophets, and even more 
than a prophet, he will certainly have 
a place in Christ's kingdom of glory. 
When, therefore, our Saviour says, the 
least in the kingdom of heaven is great- 
er than John the Baptist, he has refer- 
ence to his church on earth. He does 
not say that John is the least in that 
kingdom, as though he was in it ; but 
that the least in that kingdom is great- 
er than he; showing conclusively that 
he [ John ] did not belong to that 
kingdom. 

The next question to be answered is 
this : — Was Christ's Church set up by 
John, or in his time? We have already 
answered, in a measure, the foregoing 
question, but will give it a more thor- 
ough investigation. I, of course, take 



SKELETON. 19 

the position that the church was not 
set up "by John, neither was it set up 
in his time : that is, not while he was 
living. To the law and to the testimo- 
ny. John was beheaded in the prison 
previous to the time that Christ said, 
"Upon this rock I will build my 
church." 

Hear and understand. "At that time 
Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame 
of Jesus, and said unto his servants, 
this is John the Baptist: he is risen 
from the dead ; and therefore mighty 
works do showforth themselves in him." 
( Matt. 14 : 1, 2. ) Verse 10 shows that 
Herod had sent and beheaded John in 
the prison. (See also Mark 6: 14-17; 
Luke 9:7.) Examine in a referenced 
bible Mark 6 : 17, and you will learn 
that Herod bound John, and cast him 
into prison, A. D. 30; and he never 
come out until he was beheaded. But 



20 THE BAPTIST 

we have no promise of a church until 
the second year afterwards ( See Matt. 
16 : 18. ), and then the building of it 
was to take place in the future. This 
is conclusive evidence that the church 
of Christ was not set up by John, 
nor in his time. John therefore did not 
belong to the Church of Christ ; and 
consequently Baptists have no just 
reason for attempting to identify them- 
selves with John, or to assume the 
name of Baptist; if they pretend to 
identify themselves with the Christian 
Church. John was the forerunner or 
messenger of Christ; he came to fore- 
warn the people of the coming of Christ; 
and baptized with water, to show how 
Christ would baptize with the Holy 
Ghost ; but he never claimed it as any 
part of his mission to set up a church. 
I once heard a Baptist minister say that 
John was a Christian and Christ was a 



SKELETON. 21 

Baptist. This folly should, however, be 
ascribed to his ignorance. A christian 
is a disciple or follower of Christ ; and 
we know that John was not a disci- 
ple of Christ. He came before Christ, 
and had disciples of his own. Another 
of their ministers said he was a Mis- 
sionary Baptist, just like Christ. I take 
the position that Christ's Church was 
set up or first commenced on the day 
ofpentecost. The prophet Joel says, 
speaking in the name of the Lord? 
"And it shall come to pass afterwards, 
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all 
flesh ; and your sons and your daugh- 
ters shall prophesy, your old men shall 
dream dreams, your young men shall 
see visions : And also upon the serv- 
ants and upon the handmaids in those 
days will I pour out my Spirit." 

John, speaking of Jesus, says: "He 
shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost 



22 THE BAPTI8T 

and with fire." ( Matt. 3 : 11. ) 

Jesus says, "For John truly baptized 
with water; but ye shall be baptized 
with the Holy Ghost not many clays 
hence." ( Acts 1:5.) 

Compare the three foregoing quota- 
tions, and see the result. That which 
John and Jesus calls baptizing with the 
Holy Ghost, Joel calls pouring out the 
Spirit of the Lord upon the people. 
And Peter says these promises were 
fulfilled on the day of pentecost. ( See 
Acts 2 : 17. ) 

We will next hear Paul. 

"For by one Spirit are we all bap- 
tized into one body." 

And again: "Ye are the body of 
Christ." (1 Cor. 12:13,27. ) 

Now, as we are baptized into Christ's 
mystical body or Spiritual church, by 
the Holy Ghost, when the apostles re- 
ceived that baptism, on the day of pen- 



SKELETON. 23 

tecost, they then constituted the church. 
Hence the church of Christ was set up 
by Christ himself, through the instru- 
mentality of the apostles, on the day 
of pentecost. 

Then follows : "And the Lord added 
to the church daily such as should be 
saved. 5 ' ( Acts 2:47. ) 

This is the first place that the scrip- 
tures give any account of a church or- 
ganization. 

We will next hear from Peter. 

"And as I began to speak, the Holy 
Ghost fell on them [the Gentiles], as 
onus [Jews ] at the beginning. [ On the 
day of pentecost. ] "Then remembered 
I the word of the Lord, how he said, 
John indeed baptized with water ; but 
ye shall be baptized with the Holy 
Ghost/' (Acts 11: 15, 16.) 

"For by one Spirit are we all [ Jews 
and Gentiles ] baptized into one body." 



24 THE BAPTIST 

This shows that the church was set 
up on the day of pentecost, and not 
until then. 

Speaking of the kingdom of Christ, 
Mr. Gox says, "By the washing of re- 
generation and renewing of the Holy 
Ghost, being baptized together into the 
Spirit, and such subjects are fit per- 
sons, upon a profession of faith, to en- 
ter by the door of baptism into the vis- 
ible kingdom, or church. And that no 
person has ever been a member of the 
visible kingdom without submitting to 
the ordinance of baptism by immer- 
sion, if it is the dooi*, as we believe it is." 
Let it be borne in mind that Mr. Cox 
makes baptism by immersion the door 
into the church. 

Again he says, u But he that enter- 
eth in by the door, is the shepherd of 
the sheep ; to him the porter openeth, 
and the sheep hear his voice," &c. 



SKELETON. 25 

( John 10 : 2. ) "Here," says he, "Jesus 
comes to the porter [John the Baptist] 
for admittance into the sheepfold 
[ church ]. ( Mark 1:9.) 

" 'And it came to pass in those days 
that Jesus came from Na&areth of Gal- 
ilee, and was baptized of John in Jor- 
dan. And straight way coming up out 
of the water, he saw the heavens open- 
ed, and the Spirit like a dove, descend- 
ing upon him.' " 

"That Jesus was baptized in Jordan 
there can be no doubt. Then, to consti- 
tute a legal member of the church he 
[Christ] must have experienced all 
that is understood spiritually by regen- 
eration and being born again, and then 
submit to the ordinance of baptism by 
immersion in water, which must be ad- 
ministered by a legal administrator, 
who has been baptized, and come 
under the imposition of hands." 
4 



26 THE BAPTIST 

( Cox's Hist, pp. 188, 189. ) 

Strange logic ! Christ not worthy of 
his own kingdom until he was bap- 
tized! Besides, Mr. Cox says, baptism, 
to be legal, must be administered by a 
person who has been baptized and 
come under the imposition of hands. 

When did John submit to all this ? 
Or who baptized him? According to 
Mr. Cox's logic the Baptist churchs of 
America are all virtually and substan- 
tially unbaptized. Roger "Williams and 
Ezekiel Holliman, with some ten other 
persons, none of whom were bap- 
tized, concluded to organize a Baptist 
church. Accordingly, Holliman bap- 
tized Williams, and Williams, in 
turn, baptized Holliman and the re- 
maining ten; and this proceedure con- 
stituted the first Baptist church in 
America. This took place at Provi- 
dence, Rhodeisland, A. D. 1639. This 



SKELETON. 27 

proves conclusively that all American 

Baptists are unbaptized. This they 
know, and are trying of late to free 
themselves from the sad predicament. 
Mr. Cox says that Robertson, in his 
''Ecclesiastical Researches, gives an ac- 
count that, after a long and labored 
research into Ecclesiastical History, he 
had, at length, ascertained that there 
had been a Baptist church organized 
in America, under the sup ervision of a 
Rev. Mr. Clark, A. D. 1638. This places 
them one year in advance of Mr. Will- 
iams, if we can credit the account. It 
seems strange, however, that a church 
coming down from the apostles by 
a linked and continuous succession, 
as Baptists claim to have done, 
should be under the necessity of ran- 
sacking the religious records of the 
world to find a connecting link. And 
after all this ado they only claim to 



28 THE BAPTIST 

have gained the time by one year. This 
looks like criticism, rather than histo- 
rical facts. 

It will doubtless be said by some 
that I am writing through ambition or 
a spirit of revenge. This is, however, a 
mistake. My object is to try to disa- 
buse, in a measure, the public mind 
of the errors that have long been im- 
posed upon the people by the attempt 
to make it appear that the Baptist or- 
ganization is the Apostolic Church. I 
know too much of the prejudices of the 
human mind, especially in matters of 
religion, not to know that most writers 
in attempting to sustain a favorite the- 
ory, will resort to almost all kinds of 
stratagem. As before intimated, it is 
denied by some that the Baptist church 
originated with the Roger Williams 
organization. Mr. Ray of St. Louis has 
written at considerable length on the 



SKELETON. 29 

foregoing subject. His work entitled, 
"Baptist Succession, 55 is principally 
employed in endeavoring to make it 
appear that there had been a Baptist 
church organized in America previous 
to that by Mr. "Williams. Mr. Ray is a 
Baptist of the deepest dye, and at least 
as full of sectarian prejudice as many 
others. He says, with reference to the 
Roger Williams organization, it was a 
thing, not a church. He says it was not 
worthy the name of a church. 

We will now hear from impartial 
witnesses, and introduce their testimo- 
ny in their own words. Mr. Willard, in 
his history of the United States, gives 
us the following : "Williams founded, 
at Providence, the first Baptist Church 
in America, 55 ( Willard's United 
States, p. 69. ) 

On pp. 47, 48, of the History of the 
United States by John Clark Ridpath, 



30 THE BAPTIST 

relative to the removal of the Pilgrim 
Fathers to America, we have the fol- 
lowing : 

"Accordingly John Carver and Rob- 
ert Cushman were dispatched to Eng- 
land to ask permission for the Church 
at Leydon to settle in America. The 
agents of the London company and the 
Council of Plymoth gave some encour- 
agement to the request, but the king 
and his ministers, especially Lord 
Bacon, set their faces against any pro- 
ject which might favor heretics. The 
most that King James would do was 
to make an informal promise to let the 
Pilgrims alone in America. Such has 
always been the despicable attitude of 
bigotry towards every liberal enter- 
prise." Baptists have ever manifested 
this spirit of intolerance towards other 
religious institutions. 

"At a cession of the general court of 



SKELETON. 31 

the colony, held in 1631, a law was 
passed restricting the right of suffer- 
age. It was enacted that none but 
members of the church should be per* 
mitted to vote at the colonial elections. 
The choice of governor, deputy-govern- 
or, and assistant counsellors was thus 
placed in the hands of a small minori- 
ty. Nearly three-fourths of the people 
w r ere excluded from exercising the 
rights of free men. Taxes were levied 
for the support of the gospel. None 
but church-members were eligible to 
offices of trust." (pp. 91, 92. ) 

"Roger Williams belonged to that 
most radical body of dissenters called 
Anabaptists. By them the validity of in- 
fant baptism was* denied. Williams 
himself had been baptized in infancy ; 
but his views in regard to the value of 
the ceremony had undergone a change 
during his ministry at Salem. Now that 



32 THE BAPTIST 

he had freed himself from all foreign 
authority both of Church and State, he 
conceived it to be his duty to receive a 
second baptism. But who should per- 
form the ceremonj^ ? Ezekiel Holliman, 
a layman, was selected for the sacred 
duty. Williams meekly received the 
rite at the hands of his friend, and then 
in turn baptized him and ten other ex- 
ilesof the colony. Such was the organ- 
ization Of THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH 

in America." ( Ridpath's Hist. p. 133, 
Chap. 7, Sec. 3. ) 

Willard and Ridpath were writing a 
history of the United States, and I pre- 
sume, without any personal prejudice 
for or against any religious society, 
and would be likely to give a true 
statement of facts. 

My father once knew a man by the 
name of H , who judged a horse- 
race, and, on oath, testified that one 



SKELETON. 33 

horse beat the other by a hair's 
breadth . Allowing Baptists all they 
claim on this point, and they have won 
the race, or gained the time, by one 
year, or by a hair's breadth only. But 
we have another witness. Mr. Hitch- 
cock, in his Religious Denominations Of 
The World, contained in his great work 
on the bible, gives us the following : — 
; The first Baptist church in America 
was founded by Roger Williams, at 
Providence, R. L, in 1639." 

Then, to say nothing about the tes- 
timony of Willard and Ridpath, whose 
veracity I presume has never been 
even doubted, and put Ray's work a- 
gainst Hitchcock's, and it would be, 
in comparison, about like the weight 
of a feather against a millstone, or the 
blast of a smith's bellows against a 
syclone. 

Lest it might be thought that I was 
5 



34 THE BAPTIST 

not sufficiently definite with reference 
to what Mr. Ray says, concerning the 
Roger Williams organization, I will, 
before dismissing the subject, give 
some transcripts in his own words. 

Speaking of the difficulties between 
the Civil authorities and Roger Will- 
iams, Mr. Ray remarks : "At length the 
magistrates passed the sentence of 
banishment upon him ; upon which he 
removed, with a few of his own sect, to 
a place called Providence. There they 
proceeded, says Mr. Mathers, not only 
unto the gathering of a thing like a 
church, but unto the renouncing of 
their infant baptism." (Baptist suc- 
cession by D. B. Bay, p. 49. ) 

Speaking of Dr. John Clark, Mr. Ray 
says: "As he gathered the church 
shortly after he came to Rhod Island, 
it must have been gathered in the year 
J 638, — one year before the 'thing like 



SKELETON. 35 

a church, 1 formed by Roger Williams 
was born." (p. 58.) 

Mr. Ray continues : — "On this point 
Mr. Jones says : 'It cannot be shown 
that any Baptist church sprang from 
the Williams affair. " (p. 60. > 

Mr. Ray calls the Williams organi- 
zation a sect, a thing like a church, and 
an affair; yet it is evident that all 
American Baptist have sprung from 
that same thing. Mr. Ray gives it only 
as supposition that there may have 
been a Baptist church in America pre- 
vious to the organization of that thing, 
while Willard, Ridpath and Hitch- 
cock all testify positively that there 
was not. 

From the testimony now before us it 
is evident that American Baptists orig- 
inated with the Roger Williams organ- 
ization. And from the testimony of Mr. 
Ray himself, if he is entitled to confi- 



36 THE BAPTIST 

dence, we are forced to the conclusion 
that there is no Baptist church in Amer- 
ica : for that which is usually called a 
Baptist church, he says, is only a thing. 

We will now briefly notice the new 
name by which the Lord called his 
servants. Under the former dispensa- 
tion God's servants were called Israel, 
after the name of their father Israel, 
or Jacob; and Jews, after the name 
of their father Judah ; but, under the 
gospel, the followers of Christ were 
called disciples. "And the disciples 
were called christians first in Antioch." 

If Baptists believe that Baptist is the 
name the Lord called his servants, why 
do they call themselves christians? 
and if christian is the name, why call 
themselves Baptists ? The reason is ob- 
vious. Churches are usually represent- 
ed under the figure of a woman. Isaiah, 
speaking with reference to the present 



SKELETON. 37 

divided state of christians, says : "And 
in that day seven women shall take 
hold of one man, saying, we will eat 
onr own bread, and wear our own ap- 
parel, only let us be called by thy 
name, to take away our reproach/' 
(Isai. 4: 1.) 

The plain interpretation of the fore- 
going quotation is as follows :- — As be- 
fore stated, the prophet was speaking 
with reference to the present divided 
state of religion, when the greater part 
of professed christians would be fol- 
lowing creeds. And in that day a plu- 
rality of christian churches [ so called ] 
shall take hold of Christ [ by profess- 
ion ], saying, we will preach our own 
doctrines, and practice our own usages, 
only let us be called by thy name 
[ christian ], to take away our reproach. 

All the professed followers of Christ 
are willing to be called christians ; yea, 



68 THE BAPTIST 

they delight to be called after the name 
of Christ ; but they will hold fast their 
sectarian names. Yea, in them is ful- 
filled the prophecy of Isaiah: "They 
take delight in approaching to God." 

We have briefly noticed the charac- 
ter of the new covenant that the Lord 
made with his people, and the Church 
of Christ as set up under that covenant, 
and also the new name by which the 
Lord called his servants. 

There is a way of error ; 
Also a way that's right : — 
Why will you walk in darkness, 
Rather than the light ! 



SKELETON. 39 



CHAP. 2. 



t 



"And he said unto them, Full well y 
reject the commandment of God, that 
ye may keep your own tradition: \ Mark 

7:9.) 



rpHE inspired Writers give an ac- 
*■ count of a great apostacy that 
should take place in the church, and 
the rise of Antichrist, or the man of 
sin, whom they said would sit in the 
temple of G-od, and be worshipped. 
Paul informed the Thessalonians that 
the mystery of iniquity w T as already 
beginning to work, even in his time. 
The Revelator takes up the subject, 
and finds the church in an apostatized 
state so early as A. D. 96. Writing to 
the seven churches of Asia, he finds 
fault with all of them but one. He then 
follows the church in her downward 



40 THE BAPTIST 

course, until the rise of the great red 
dragon, with seven heads and ten horns. 
The dragon persecuted the woman 
[church]: "And to the woman were 
given two wings of a great eagle, that 
she might fly into the wilderness, into 
her place, where she is nourished for a 
time, and times, aiTd half a time, from 
the face of the serpent."" (Rev. 12 : 14. ) 

The dragon was Paganism. And the 
dragon gave the beast his power, his 
seat, and great authority. The beast is 
Popery. 

( Whoso readeth, let Mm under- 
stand ! ) 

According to Dowling, Graves, Cox, 
and various other writers, the pope 
was established in his kingdom A. D. 
606 ; as we will more fully demonstrate 
at the proper time. 

If the beast sat in the temple of God, 
and was worshipped, A. D. 606, the wo- 



SKELETON. 41 

man was under the necessity of leav- 
ing the temple previous to that time, 
as the woman and the beast could not 
both occupy it at the same time. 

From the foregoing we necessarily 
conclude that the church was in the wil- 
derness previous to the year 606. Mr. 
Graves, and others who have written 
on the subject, define the wilderness to 
be obscurity. (See "The Great Iron 
Wheel," by Graves, p. 566. ) 

My object at present is, to show that 
the church was in the wilderness as 
early as 606, and that the wilderness is 
obscurity ; and this will establish the 
fact that no church claiming a visible 
organization, from the days of the 
apostles to the present time, can be the 
church that was twelve hundred and 
sixty years in the wilderness. 

We will now proceed to show that 
spiritual or moral darkness became 
6 



42 THE BAPTIST 

dense, and spread over the entire 
Christian World; and, as a conse- 
quence, the church was invisible. 

Mr. Cox, quoting Mr. Jones, says : 
U I come now to the darkest and most 
dismal time the Christian church ever 
saw, and perhaps ever will see, from 
the rise of Antichrist, to the reforma- 
tion by Luther and others. The true 
church, in this space, was for many 
hundred years in a state of great ob- 
scurity." ( Cox's Hist. p. 133. ) 

We have introduced the concurrent 
testimony of Graves, Cox and Jones, to 
show that the wilderness into which 
the woman [ church ] fled, was obscu- 
rity; and obscurity is darkness. The 
church, then, was for many hundred 
years [ 1260] in obscure darkness ; and, 
of course, invisible. In fact, there 
would be no avail in her flying from 
the dragon, uuless she was hid from his 



SKELETON, 43 

view. ( Hear and understand. ) 

"And to the woman were given two 
wings of a great eagle, that she might 
fly into the wilderness, into her place, 
where she is nourished for a time, 
times, and half a time, from the face of 
the serpent." 

See the manner of her flight! two 
wings of a great eagle were given unto 
her ! See how securely she was hid ! 
"From the face of the serpent /" 

Will Baptists, saying, as they do, 
that they have "been a visible organiza- 
tion in various countries, and in every 
century from the days of the apostles 
to the present time, — will they say that 
they are the church that was, for the 
space of twelve hundred and sixty 
years, in obscurity? 

We have more abundant evidence 
to prove that the church was in obscu- 
rity. Says Mr. Cox, "Although there 



44 THE BAPTIST 

was a gospel church and ministry, in 
existence, yet, from persecution and 
being shut up in the wilderness, she 
had but little light." 

The fact is as follows : If Popery ex- 
tended over all Christendom, and dark- 
ness became universal, it is evident 
that the church of Christ was not a vis- 
ible organization in various countries, 
and in every century, from the days of 
the apostles to the present time, as our 
Baptist brethren claim to have been. 

To prove the universal reign of Po- 
pery and spiritual darkness, w^e will 
make a quotation from Dowling, author 
of "The History Of Romanism." 

u As it was owing to the decree of 
the Emperror Phocas, constituting 
him [ Pope Boniface ] supreme univer- 
sal Bishop, and head of the universal 
church, that the proud prelate of Rome 
was thus enabled to tyrannize over the 



SKELETON. 45 

whole of Christendom, and mould and 
fashion the christian churches at his 
will," &c. (Dowling's History Of Ro- 
manism, p. 58. ) 

The next is from Edgar. Says he, 
"The flood-gates of moral pollution 
seemed to set wide open, and inunda- 
tions of all impurity poured upon the 
christian toorld through the Roman 
hierarchy in the eighth century." 

Speaking of the tenth century, which 
was the darkest part of this moral mid- 
night, Dupin, the Romish historian, re- 
marks: — "In this century there was 
no controversy, because there were no 
heretics [none who openly contended 
for, the truth ], or persons who refined 
upon matters of religion, or dived into 
our mysteries." 

Hence we see that Popery was uni- 
versal, and the Church of Christ hid in 
her obscure retreat in the wilderness. 



46 THE BAPTIST 

That is, the daily sacrifice, which is 
the true worship of God ( See 1 Pet. 2 : 
5. ), was taken away, and the abomina- 
tion that maketh desolate was set up. 

In proof of the foregoing, I will again 
quote Mr. Cox. 

"And as he [the beast] gained full 
power, and was worshipped as God, A. 
D. 606, so the forty and two months 
will end A. D. 1866." 

Again : "As the true church has been 
almost literally trodden wider foot, 
and her sacred temples polluted, her 
ordinances prostrated, and her sacred 
worship desecrated, the time is near at 
hand when the sanctuary shall be 
cleansed, and when tlie true church will 
worship according to primitive order" 

Do not the foregoing quotations from 
Baptist historians, who wrote between 
the years 1845 1856, show that they 
considered that the church was yet in 



SKELETON. 47 

the wilderness, and that the worship of 
the churches at that time was not ac- 
cording to primitive order, but that 
apostolic order would soon "be restored ? 

It seems that further evidence to es- 
tablish the fact that Popery extended 
its influence overall the christian world, 
and that the true worship of G-od had 
ceased, is unnecessary. Was the church 
then a visible organization? if so, in 
what countries? when Popery tyran- 
nized over the whole of Christendom, 
and moulded and fashioned the church- 
es at his will, as Mr. Dowling says. 

Mr. Cox is a Baptist writer, and of 
considerable note. I will, therefore, 
make another quotation from him, 
which will be decisive, if there is any 
confidence in Baptist writers. 

iir Fhe Pope," says he, "had attained, 
A. D. 606, to supream power, both tem- 
poral and ecclesiastical — there was no 



48 THE BAPTIST 

intervening power '." (p. 144. ) 

If the Pope had attained to supreme 
power, both temporal and ecclesiasti- 
cal, in so much that there was no in- 
tervening power, I wonder where the 
Baptist Church was at that time! I 
am confident that there was none at 
that time, nor never had been previ- 
ous to that time. 

I now make the following inquiry : 
Who can trace the history of the wo- 
man from the time of her flight into 
the wilderness, until her return and 
visible appearance, and tell what she 
has been doing ? No one living ! This 
is a fact I would have the reader bear 
in mind, as it proves that no church 
claiming a visible organization, or a 
linked and continuous history from the 
days of the apostles, can be the Church 
of Christ. All such claims to antiquity 
are forgeries, or else those societies 



SKELETON. 49 

are sects of the ancient Pharisees or 
Sadducees who have continued their 
existance down to the present time. 
In fact, when we contrast the princi- 
ples of the ancient Pharisees with 
those of Baptists at the present time, 
we find a striking analogy. When John 
was baptizing in the wilderness of Ju- 
•dea, many of the Pharisees and Saddu- 
cees came to his baptism. ( See Matt. 
3:7.) Thej^ demanded baptism of John, 
supposing it to be essentially neces- 
sary. But did yon ever hear of one of 
them demanding of Jesus the bap- 
tism of the Holy Ghost \ It appears that 
Mcodemus went to him for a friendly 
conversation ; but usually they went to 
him to try to entangle him in his talk. 
Just so with our Baptist brethren; 
they claim water baptism as essential- 
ly necessary — the door into the church . 

— and recognize John's, as christian 

7 



50 THE BAPTIST 

baptism, but they generally reject or 
deny the baptism of the Hol c y Ghost. 

Again, when the Pharisee and the 
Publican went up into the temple to 
pray, the Pharisee stood and prayed 
thus with himself: "God, I thank thee, 
that I am not as other men are, extor- 
tioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as 
this Publican. I fast twice in the week, 
I give tithes of all that I possess. " 
(Luke 18: 11, 12.) 

Baptist. — God, I thank thee, that I 
am not as other men are, Methodists, 
Presbyterians, Campbeilites, or even 
as this United-Christian. I was bap- 
tized by immersion, I believe in the 
perseverance of saints and close com- 
munion. 

I know there are exceptions to any 
general rule ; and no doubt but there 
are many good Baptists. But God, 
speaking of Babylon, says, "Come out 



SKELETON. 51 

of her, my people, that ye be not par- 
taker of her sins, and that ye receive 
not of her plagues : for her sins have 
reached unto heaven, and God hath 
remembered her iniquities." 

Some persons will probably take of- 
fence, and not read impartially ; but 1 
am not responsible for that. 

In giving quotations I have been 
careful to give the exact words of the 
various authors. I have, however. Ital- 
icized some words and sentences, to 
give them emphasis. I have also, by 
way of explanation, introduced most 
of the phrases included in brackets. 
The same rule will be observed through- 
out this work. 

I had thought to close this part of 
my subject, but feel myself called 
upon to give at least? one or two more 
extracts from Mr. Cox's history. Speak- 
ing of the darkness that prevailed dur- 



52 THE BAPTISI 

ing the ninth and tenth centuries, Mr. 
Cox, p. 133, extracts the following from 
Mr. Jones' history, p. 213. 
• "It will not therefore be necessary 
to detain the reader longer from sub- 
jects of a more pleasing nature, by 
dwelling very minutely upon the state 
of things during this period. The fact 
is acknowledged by Papists them- 
selves, by Caianza, Genebrard, Baroni- 
us and others, who described the tenth 
century as a monstrous age. The lan- 
guage of the latter indeed is so remark- 
able, thai it deserves to be quoted. He 
[ Baronius ] says, 'Christ was then as it 
would appear, in a deep sleep, and the 
ship was covered with waves; and 
what seemed worse, when the Lord 
was thus asleep, there were no disci- 
ples by whom, with their cries, to 
awaken him, being themselves all fast 
asleep.'' ? ' 



SKELETON. 5H 

These are not bare, unfounded as- 
sertions on my part, I have referred 
the reader to the history and page 
where he can find almost every thing 
here setforth. If these things are not 
so, then there is no confidence in those 
writers I have quoted; although Bap- 
tists say they are the most authentic 
historians that have ever written on 
the subject: and if these things are 
true, it is clearly evident that the 
church of Christ was not a visible or- 
ganization, attending upon all the or- 
dinances of God's house, when Christ 
and all Ms disciples toerefast asleep 
for at least two full centuries : and the 
only w r ay Baptists could have been a 
visible organization during that time, 
was their being connected with, and 
also a constituent part of the Catho- 
lic church. In fact, Mr. Cox makes an 
informal consession that they were 



54 THE BAPTIST 

connected with the Catholic church. 

"And the third part oftlie sun teas 
smitten." (Rev. 8: 12. ) 

Under this text Mr. Cox says, the sun 
represented the church. He continues 
thus: "We shall here have to allow 
the Catholic church to be the church 
represented, as she was once connec- 
ted with the true church, and is now 
the most visible, as the true church 
is still in the wilderness. And as the 
third part was smitten, a third part of 
it was darkened, and the day shone not 
for a third part of it." ( Cox, p. 132. ) 

The foregoing would convey the idea 
substantially as follows : Catholics and 
Baptists while united, constituted the 
true church. But when the Baptists, un- 
der Novatian, seceded from the Cath- 
olic church, about the middle of the 
third century, and drew off about a 
third part of her members, the third 



SKELETON. 55 

part of the sun was smitten, so that the 
day shone not for a third part of it. 

In further confirmation of my posi- 
tion, indulge me in making one more 
quotation from page 138 of Cox's His- 
tory. 

"The sun, moon and stars had long 
been in eclipse ; not entire, but one 
third part; not one-third part of the 
day, and the other part of the time 
bright, but one-third part was dark- 
ened or smitten the whole day, which 
was one thousand years. The church, 
the government and the ministry had 
greatly departed from their former 
high standing, and passed through a 
dark season." 

Says the writer, "When I say church 
here, I mean to be understood as allu- 
ding to the Catholic church and her 
ministry." 

The tail of the dragon drew the third 



56 THE BAPTIST 

part of the stars of heaven, and did 
cast them to the earth. (Rev. 12 : 4. ) 

With the testimony now before us, 
and coming from Baptist writers of 
such note as Jones, Cox and others, 
can any one doubt that the Baptist 
church, is an emulation or secession 
from the Catholic church ? 

We could fill page after page with 
just such testimony as the foregoing, 
but deem it unnecessary. 

I am not writing to give offence. Far 
from it. But to cover up error will nev- 
er eradicate it. Neither is within me 
to speak smooth things and deceits, 
and try to flatter people when their 
souls are at stake. Neither do I ex- 
pect to move or change those who are 
joined to their idols. But I am writing 
for the information of those who are 
seeking the right way. 

I am sorrow that I am placed under 



SKELETON. 57 

the necessity of writing against any 
church ; but I have long extended to 
Baptist ministers, courtesy and broth- 
erly friendship, and met with little else 
than scoffs and misrepresentations. 
How often I have invited them to a seat 
in the pulpit, and met with a cold refu- 
sal ! How often I have been introduced 
to them as a brother minister, and 
was treated with contempt ! and this 
for full seventeen years. And could I 
to-day have the assurance of any thing- 
better, I would gladly lay down my 
pen. But as I said in the outset, I am 
driven to the investigation of Baptist 
claims. And as D'Aubigne said by Lu- 
ther, being driven to new inquiries, I 
have ariven at unexpected discoveries. 
Is this the Bride of Christ ? 
And this the robe she wears ? 
And is she washed in Jesus 5 blood 

Till not a spot appears? 
8 



58 THE BAPTIST 



CHAP. '3. 



"And he spake a parable unto them; 
Can the blind lead the blind ? shall they 
not both fall into the ditch P'Lnke 6 : 39. 

TS Protestantism the true church of 

^Christ? 

In answering the foregoing inquiry, 
we will allow Mr. Graves a voice, as 
we wish to settle this controversy upon 
Baptist testimony. Mr. Graves wrote 
the introduction to Orchard's History, 
and then published the "book. In the 
aforesaid Introduction, Mr. Graves ar- 
gues thus: — 

"If the church of Rome is the true 
church, it follows, that those who dis- 
sented from, and protested against her, 
cannot be the true church. On the oth- 
er hand, If the church of Rome is not the 
true church, it follows, that those who 



SKELETON. 59 

came out of her by protest, are daugh- 
ters of the old "Mother of Harlots/ 4 
and not the true church of Christ. Such, 
in substance, is his argument. It is un- 
necessary for me to waste time refer- 
ring to Orchard, Graves, Cox, and most 
all Baptist writers,- to show that they 
deny being protestants, and contend 
that Protestantism is not the church of 
Christ, Christ's Church is one, but 
Protestantism are many. A house or 
kingdom divided against itself cannot 
stand. Babylon, therefore, with all her 
daughters, must fall. 

On this subject, I will make a lengthy 
quotation from Mr. Graves. 

"It is high time for the history of 
the Church of Christ to be written. 
The world has quite long enough won- 
dered after the beast, and the Church 
of Christ left in the obscurity of Vie 
wilderness. One thing settled by he 



60 THE BAPTIST 

late discussion of the Presbyterian 
Assembly is, tliat no protestant can 
write the history of the Christian 
Church ! Unless he writes the history 
of the Romish church, he has no church 
to wTite about for sixteen centuries — 
until the reformation by Luther." 

Recollect, I told you in a previous 
chapter that no one could trace the 
history of the church, or woman, while 
she was in the wilderness, and tell 
what she was doing ; and in the fore- 
going quotation, Mr. Graves confirms 
my position. He says, no protestant 
can write the history of the Christian 
Church for sixteen centuries : that he 
can write only the history of the Ro- 
mish church. Yet, for all that, he says 
the Baptist church has had a visible 
organization, and a linked history from 
the days of the apostles to the present 
time ; virtually acknowledging Bap- 



SKELETON. 61 

lists to be of Rome. 

But Mr. Graves continues : "During 
the last thirty years, several efforts 
have been made in the right direction. 
Robert Robertson, in his history of 
Baptism, and 'Ecclesiastical Research- 
es/ aided in indicating the direction 
such a work should take. Win. Jones, 
with the light thrown upon his path by 
Paul Perrin and Robertson, did still 
more, and left us, not a complete, but 
a valuable Church history. But the 
most valuable Chronological history 
of the Church of Christ, now extant, 
and excepting Jones, 5 the only one 
passing over eighteen centuries that 
deserves the name of Church history 
now before the world, is the one we 
now present to the American public 
for the first time in a reprint." ( Intro- 
duction to Orch. Hist., pp. 11, 12. ) 

From the foregoing quotation the 



62 THE BAPTIST 

reader will readily perceive that Mr. 
Graves recommends Orchard's as the 
only history now extant, that deserves 
the name of Church History, excepting 
Jones, 5 which, he says, is a tolerable 
valuable history. Although I differ in 
religious sentiment from Mr. Cox, a 
Predestinarian Baptist, yet, I must 
confess that, so far as I am capable of 
judging, he is a briliant writer. Milner 
is a popular writer, and his work enti- 
tled, "Religious Denominations Of 
The World," is admitted by Baptists 
to be both authentic and impartial. If 
it is partial any way, it is in favor of 
Baptists. I expect to adduce a suffi- 
ciency of testimony from the three au- 
thors above named, viz., Orchard, Cox 
and Milner, to sustain every important 
proposition I may make. In connection 
with them, however, 1 expect to quote 
several authors ; but all of them sucb 



SKELETON. 63 

as Baptists quote as authority, in their 

writings; and surely tliey will not ob- 
ject to such evidence. 

The title of this book indicates that 
I expect to dissect the Baptist Church. 
But I expect to have Orchard, Cox, 
Milner and others, to stand by while I 
attempt to prosecute the work of dis- 
section, and see that it is well done. 

Having sustained the position that 
Protestantism cannot be the Church of 
Christ, I would have the reader bear in 
mind that if we make it appear, or rath- 
er, when we make it appear that Bap- 
tists are protestants, it will then be ev- 
ident that Baptists do not constitute 
the Churcli of Christ. 

But we will not content ourselves 
with merely proving that Baptists are 
protestants ; we expect to show also 
the foundation on which those sects 
claiming to be Baptists, have built : 



64 THE BAPTIS1 

and many other items connected with 
their history. 

It may be asked why I have selected 
the Baptist Church from amongst all 
others as a target for my artillery. This 
inquiry has been partially answered 
in the foregoing pages. It is partly, 
and principally, to disabuse the pub- 
lic mind of the errors long urged that 
the Baptist Church is the true and 
only church of Christ. It is not from 
deliberate choice, or that I take pleas- 
ure in opposing Baptists, that I have 
engaged in the prosecution of this 
work; bu\ I am driven into it by long 
and repeated persecutions and mis- 
representations, as I have intimated 
in my work entitled, "The Church 
out of the wilderness.'- Yet Baptists 
say, they never persecute others. 

They have reproached us with vari- 
ous nic-names ; they have said, by way 



SKELETON. 65 

of derision, "Nip them in the bud;" 
they have circulated against us, false- 
ly, reports both slanderous and scan- 
dalous; they have attempted to su- 
press our cause by refusing to publish 
our meetings ; they have closed against 
us, where they had the power, the 
doors of public School-houses, which 
they opened to others ; they attempt- 
ed, on one occasion, under a false pre- 
text, to sell our Church-house ; they 
have refused to recognize us as minis- 
ters of Christ, or of the gospel, until we 
should prove, by working a miracle* 
that God had called us to preach ; they 
have refused to recognize us as christ- 
ians ; they have misrepresented our 
usages on various points ; they have 
misrepresented us through the press; 
thay have misrepresented us from the 
pulpit; they have misrepresented us in 
private conversation. — All these things 



m THE BAPTIST 

have we patiently endured for seven- 
teen years, and now when we seek re- 
dress for these grievances, "by exposing 
our persecutors to the public, they 
open wicl e their eyes, and look aston- 
ished, and say, " We never before heard 
Baptists accused of persecuting other 
denominations ! 

In the little Village of Lookingglass, 
in Lookingglass Valley, Douglas Co., ' 
Oregon, is a School-house, with a hall 
on top of it. This hall was used for the 
accommodation of almost all classes 
of people. Temperance and Grange 
Lectures, preaching and dancing were 
all carried on in this hall. In this hall 
I met with ministers of various relig- 
ious persuasions. In this hall I was in- 
vited to preach with a Methodist broth- 
er, by the name of Moor. In this hall I 
formed an acquaintance and preached 
with some brethren of the Christian 



SKELETON. 67 

Order or Campbellite persuasion ; one 
in particular by the name of Smith. 
He was generally known "by the name 
of Roolingpin Smith. What his real 
name was I do not know. All those 
brethren had the appearance of real 
christians : I would delight to see them. 
At the stair-way, leading up to this 
hall, I was introduced, by an old Bap- 
tist brother, by the name of Whistler, 
to a Baptist minister, by the name of 
James. He made some inquiry into my 
religious sentiments, or rather, about 
my denominational name, and learned 
that I was not a Baptist ; and for no 
other crime, he concluded that, to use 
a Chinese phrase, I was ^Tiewpno good? 
and treated me with contempt. He was 
an Henglish-man, and in his preach- 
ing compared me to Ea ab. Yet, Bap- 
tists say, they never persecute others. 
Mr. Graves, in an address, or rather 



t)8 the baptist 

a horrangue, to kis brethren, in 1853, 
and publisked in a small work entitled, 
"Tke Watchman's Reply," on page 58 
of tkat work, assures kis bretkren that 
tke time is near at band wken either 
Catholics or Baptists, one or tke other, 
will rule the religious destinies of 
America. And do you suppose, my 
brethren of other denominations, that 
you will escape ? I tell you nay ; but if 
Baptists get the power, all others must 
bow to their iron yoke or march to the 
burning stake ! And is it possible that 
any of us will fold our hands, and sit 
idly down, until we are entangled in 
their treacherous web ? 

No doubt but it will be said that I 
have violated my pledge ; as I assured 
the reader in the outset that I would 
not abuse. And do you call a plain 
statement of facts, abuse? Besides, do 
you know the meaning of the word, 



SKELETON. 69 

"Treacherous?" Mr. Webster defines it 
to be, faithless ; false ; perfidious. And 
how many instances of this kind have 
come under our own observation, with- 
in the last twelve or fourteen years, 
we are not prepared to say ! 

The first or ten-horned beast has 
had his reign of civil power, now the 
second or two-horned one will gain 
and exercise all the power of the first : 
''Saying to them that dwell on the 
earth, that they should make an image 
to the beast, which had the wound by 
the sword, and did live." (Rev. 13 : 14. ) 

The beast which had the wound by 
the sword, was Popery. 

We will now see how he gained his 
power. First: The pope claimed that 
the Catholic church was the true 
church, and thus attempted, by persua- 
sive means, to bring all under his con- 
trol. Failing in this, he resorted to per- 



70 THE BAPTIST 

sedition, and endeavored to coerse oth- 
ers into his dominions. Being unsuc- 
cessful in this also, lie became furious, 
and began to look around for means 
of revenge. Finally the law favored his 
situation, and he seized the opportuni- 
ty. This was a golden moment for the 
beast ; he now commanded, and it was 
done. But "each dog has his day," 
and his reign, though of long duration, 
was limited. 

"And I beheld another beast coming 
up out of the earth, and he had two 
horns like a lamb, and he spake as a ■ 
dragon." **■.*■* "Saying to them 
that dwell on the earth, that they 
should make an image to the beast, 
which had the wound by a sword, and 
did live,'' 

Mean time the two-horned beast be- 
gins to come up out of the earth, in the 
form of Protestantism, and his head 



SKELETON. 71 

begins to show above the surface. And 
he says to them that dwell on the earth 
( to his followers), that they must make 
an image to the first Tbeast. We will 
give an explanation, as suggested by 
brother Jordan Miner, of Dent Co., Mo,, 
and see how completely the Baptist 
church fills the description ; especially 
with reference to the United-Christian 
church. 

Baptists have ever claimed that they 
constitute the true church, and conse- 
quently have persecuted others. But 
our object is to notice them with re- 
ference to their treatment of United- 
Christians. From the commencement of 
the United- Christian Church, Baptists 
have attempted to lead us their way, 
by their old plea of Apostolicity, until 
they found that this scheme would not 
serve their purpose, they then, like the 
first beast, resorted to persecution, 



72 THE BAPTIST 

hoping to coerse us Into their church. 

The first beast said of Luther, as re- 
corded on page 318, of Vol. 1, D'Au- 
bigne's Hist, of the Reformation, he is 
a mad-man and a demoniac ; he will 
be burned. So said Baptists, some 
twelve or fourteen years ago, that I 
was crazy, and that within two years 
there could not be a United- Christian 
found; and they used every effort to 
bring about a fulfillment of their pre- 
diction. Being unsuccessful in this ef- 
fort, they became enraged, and, like 
the first beast, impatiently awaited a 
more favorable opportunity. At length 
the law came to their relief, and they 
made good use of the golden moment. 
Any citizen of a School-district could, 
by objecting, close the door of their 
house against preaching. Thus they 
closed against us doors that had ever 
been open to others. They make an 



SKELETON. 73 

iyiage to the first beast. In tliem is ful- 
filled the prediction of the Saviour ; 
when he s&ith to his disciples, "They 
shall put you out of the synagogues." 
Doubtless, as I have stated else-where, 
there are many truly pious Baptist 
ministers, whose hearts, imbued with 
the Spirit of God, and their ardent 
souls glowing with strong desire to- 
wards all christians, would disdain to 
persecute even the weakest child of 
God. Permit me to enumerate, individ- 
ually and personally, a few of this class. 
— No ; thay would think I was trying 
to flatter them. By their fruits you hall 
know them. Of lay members there are 
multitudes of such. Of course, with re- 
spect to the church and her usages, 
they are in error ; but we would fondly 
hope it is but error of the head, while 
God looks upon the heart. It is not for 
such that I have taken up my pen, un- 
10 



74 THE BAPTISl 

less it be to admonish them to keep the 
unity of the spirit in the "bonds of 
peace. My object is, to oppose error, 
which, impelled and nrged on by a 
numerous host of ambitious fanatics, 
such as Graves of Nashville Tenn., 
and Ray of St. Louis, Mo., threatens to 
oppress, not only other religionists, but 
the innocent and unsuspecting even of 
Baptists. 

My Baptist brethren, when you read, 
Remember what is passed ; 
Although my words you did not heed, 
The time is come at last. 

I told you that the time would come, 
( Although you did accuse me ), 

That you'd receive your certain doom ; 
And still you did abuse me. 



SKELETON. 75 



CHAP. 4. 

(c But I know you, that ye have not the 
love of God in you: 'John 5 : 1$. 

TA 7"E will introduce this chapter 
with some extracts from Mr. 
Graves. 

J. R. Graves of Tennessee, Author 
of "The Great Iron Wheel," and Editor 
of "The Tennessee Baptist," is, I pre- 
sume, the most extensive Baptist wri- 
ter in America. I will, therefore, call 
him in occasionally as a witness in 
this controversy. In his Introduction 
to Orchard's history he gives us the 
following : — 

"Historians acknowledge the New 
Testament to be an authentic history 
of the church, until its canon closes, A. 
D. 100. "Commencing with this date," 
he continues, "they have its history 



76 THE BAPTIST 

down for two centuries, when tlie first 
secession took place, when the Puri- 
tans — who mantained the primitive 
simplicity and integrity of church gov- 
ernment, and of the ordinances — repu- 
diated the claims of the corrupt party 
to be considered a church, although 
assuming to be the Church Catholic." 
( Introductory Essay to Orchard's 
Hist., pp. 8, 9. ) 

There are several items connected 
with the foregoing quotation, that de- 
serve a passing notice. First, Mr. 
Graves says, "Historians acknowledge 
the New Testament to be an authentic 
history of the church, until its canon 
closes. I agree with him in this. — The 
very thing for which I have been con- 
tending all the time is, that the book 
of Revelation is the only authentic 
Church history we have ; and that all 
histories written since the flight of the 



SKELETON. 77 

woman into the wilderness, A. D. 605, 
and claiming to be church histories, 
are histories, either of the beast with 
seven heads and ten horns [ Popery ], 
or of the beast with two horns like a 
lamb [ Protestantism ]. 

As I stated in a former chapter, no 
person living could write the history of 
the woman while she was in the wil- 
derness ; and her mission there ended 
in the year 1865. 

Again, Mr. Graves saj^s, 

''Commencing with the close of the 
canon of scripture, we trace the history 
of the church down for two centuries, 
until the first secession took place." 
This secession took place when Nova- 
tian separated from the church of 
Rome, A. D. 251. Orchard says, "One 
Novatian, a presbyter in the church of 
Rome, strongly opposed the re-admiss- 
ion of apostates, but he was not sue- 



78 THE B APT I SI 

cessful. The choice of a pastor in the 
same church fell upon Cornelius, whose 
election Novatian opposed, from his 
readiness to re-admit apostates. Nova- 
tian, consequently, separated himself 
from the church [ of Rome ], and from 
Cornelius' jurisdiction." 

Again, "Novatian was the first to 
begin a separate interest with success, 
and which was known for centuries by 
his name." 

Novatian would not, on any condi- 
tion whatsoever, receive a person into 
his society the second time. ( See 
Orchard's Hist. pp. 53, 54. ) 

There are several items connected 
with the history of the Novatianists 
that are worthy of particular attention, 
as all Baptist denominations claim a 
connection with them. First, It is ad- 
mitted by both Orchard and Cox that 
the Novatianist church was a secess- 



SKELETON. 79 

ion from the church of Rome; for No- 
vatian was a presbyter in that church. 
Secondly, The grounds of his separa- 
tion. He separated from the Catholic 
Church "because catholics would re-ad- 
mit apostates to membership and com- 
munion, and because Cornelius was 
elected pastor of the church against 
his will. Thirdly, Novatian would nev- 
er pardon those who were once sepa- 
rated from the church, and receive 
them back again. 
To be scriptural we must forgive those 
who trespass against us, when they 
repent; and to be republican, as Bap- 
tists claim to be, we must be willing for 
the majority to rule. Novatian's plea for 
separating from the Catholic Church 
was, therefore, not well founded. 

Continuing his account of the Nova- 
tianists, Mr. Orchard says. "A council 
was convened at Aries, and at Lyons. 



SO THE BAPTIST 

A. D. 455, in which the views of the 
Novatianists on predestination were 
controverted, and by which they were 
stigmatized. " (p. 62. ) The same writer 
continues: 

"These sealed witnesses were the first 
protestant dissenters from assuming 
hierarchies." (p. 63.) 

So you see, Orchard says the Nova- 
tianists were protestants. 

According to Orchard, the history of 
the Novatianists closed about the 
year 575. • 

I take the bible for my guide ; 

I make my Grod my all, 
No other weapon by my side. 

By these I stand or fall. 



SKELETON. 81 



CHAP. 5. 



'Behold ,ye despisers, and wonder, and, 
perish: for I work a work in your 
days, a icork lohicli ye shall in no wise 
believe, though a man declare it . unto 
you:'* Acts 13: 41. 

r-pHE next link claimed by Baptists 
in their chain of succession, is 
the Bonatists, But how comes it to 
pass that Baptists claim a connection 
with the Donatists ? When we examine 
into the historical relation existing be- 
tween the Novatianists and the Bon- 
atists, and then hear Baptists claim a 
connection with bothu we are a little 
startled ! Novatian coming out as a re- 
former A. B. 251, and Bonatus, A. B. 
311, made just sixty years between 
them. If the Novatianist church was 
the true church ( and Baptists say it 
11 



82 THE BAPTIST 

was ), why did the followers of Nova- 
tian leave him, and join in with Don. 
at as? when, according to their own 
historians, the Novatianist churches 
were extensive at the time Donatus 
made his appearance as a reformer. 
And Baptist writers say that the Ng- 
vatianists spread all over the Roman 
Empire, and existed as separate and 
independent churches until near the 
close of the sixth century. Besides 
all this, the Donatists were confined 
principally to Africa. But Milner says, 
the Donatists were schismatics. I will 
use his own words. "The Donatists 
were ancient schismatics, in Africa, so 
denominated from their leader, Don- 
atus." 

Continuing his account of the Don- 
atists, Milner says, "Notwithstanding 
the persecutions and punishments the 
Donatists suffered from the catholics, 



SKELETON. 83 

they had a considerable number of 
churches toward the close of the fourth 
century, when a schism took place 
among themselves concerning the 
election of bishops, and one portion 
was called Primianists, and the other, 
IfaximianiMs." He further says, "The 
Donatists, it is said, held that baptism 
conferred out of the church, that is, out 
of their sect, was null; and accordingly 
they re-baptized those who joined 
th eir party from other churches : they 
also re-ordained their ministers." — 
Baptist-like! "Donaius," says Milner, 
seems likewise to have embraced the 
doctrines of the Arians." 

The foregoing is the account Milner 
gives of the Donatists, yet, Baptists 
claim them as a link in their chain of 
succession. ( See Donatists, inMilner's 
"Religious Denominations Of The 
World.") 



84 THE BAPTIST 

But are Baptists schismatics ? We 
might well suppose they are, from the 
divisions that have taken place a- 
moDgst them ; — about fourteen differ- 
ent denominations of Baptists. But Mr. 
Orchard says, the Novatianists were 
protestants (see the preceding chap- 
ter. ) ; and Baptists say that protestants 
do not constitute the true church. But 
are Baptists protestants ? We say they 
are ; and we will call in J. Newton 
Brown as a witness to the fact. Says he, 
"The Baptists are protestant chris- 
tians, entirely different from the Ana- 
baptists in character. They descended 
from the ancient Waldenses, whose 
teachings were evangelical and toler- 
ably pure." (See Ana-baptists, in Ap- 
pendix to miner's Hist. 

Evangelical^ and yet only tolerably 
pure ! 

The Donatists, according to Orchard, 



SKELETON. 85 

became extinct about the year 604, 

Commencing about the year 612, 
Mr. Orchard says, "We shall leave the 
general history, and endeavor to iden- 
tify one class of consistent Puritans. 
Pew of the clergy of the establishments 
could compose a discourse in the sev- 
enth century, when Mohammed rose 
to scourge the nations." 

But Mr. Orchard identifies one class 
of consistent Puritans. This shows that 
there were several classes at that time ; 
and Mr. Orchard selects the one most 
consistent with his peculiar views, as a 
Baptist ; and this is what Baptists call 
Apostolic succession. 

The sect, or class, referred to above, 
that Mr. Orchard selected, as being 
consistent, were the Paulicians. 

Never will we febly yield, 
Nor falter on the battle-field ! 



86 THE BAPTIST 



CHAP. 6. 

"Professing themselves to be wise, they 
became fools y, Rom. 1: 22. 

~K S Orchard's history is consider- 
^ ed the most complete chronolog- 
ical history extant, and as Baptists 
claim him as the most authentic histo- 
rian, I will use his history as my text- 
book or starting point. 

Says he, "It was about the year 653 
that a new sect came into notice in the 
East, under the name of Paulicians, 
which deserve our attention. There 
resided in the city of Mananalis, in 
Armenia, an obscure person of the 
name of Constantine, with whom this 
sect appears to have originated. One 
day a stranger called upon him, who 
had been a prisoner among the Sara- 
cens, in Syria, and having obtained his 



SKELETON. 87 

releas, was returning home through 
that city ; he was kindly received by 
Constantine, and entertained for some 
days at his house. To requit the hospi- 
tality of his generous host, he gave 
Constantine two manuscripts, which 
he had brought out of Syria; and these 
were the four Gospels, and the Epistles 
of the apostle Paul." Says Mr. Orchard, 
"He became a teacher of the doctrines 
of Christ and his apostles." He then 
quotes Mr. Milner as follows: — "He 
formed to himself a plan of divinity 
from the New Testament ; and as Paul 
is the most systematic of all the apos- 
tles, Constantine very properly attach- 
ed himself to his writings with peculiar 
attention. From the attention this sect 
paid to this apostle's epistles and doc- 
trines, they obtained the name of Paul- 
icians." ( Orch.Hist., pp. 126-128. ) 
Was it not for the old proverb:— 



88 THE BAPTIST 

"A drowning man will grasp a straw," 
I should "be astonished to hear Baptists 
endeavoring to identify themselves 
with the apostles through such a medi- 
um. Constantine was an obscure per- 
son, so says Orchard, and claimed to 
have obtained, from a liberated pris- 
oner, the foundation on which he built 
his society. Constantine may have been 
a very good man ; and he may likewise 
have been like Mohammed, Joe Smith, 
or some others who wished to form 
societies without scriptural authority, 
and claimed their authority by a direct 
revelation, or in some other peculiar 
manner. 

But the Paulician church was a sect, 
so says Orchard : and a sect cannot be 
the apostolic church ; for the apostles 
were not sectarians, I have given the 
foregoing quotations in Mr. Orchard's 
own words ; but I have Italicized the 



SKELETON. 89 

word, sect, to give it emphasis. Be that 
as it may, it does not show a regular 
or linked succession from the apostles. 
Mr. Milner, however, gives an ac- 
count of the Paulicians quite different 
from that given by Mr. Orchard. He 
says, "The Paulicians were a branch 
of the ancient Manichrens, so called 
from their founder, one Paulus, an Ar- 
minian, in the seventh century, who, 
with his brother John, both of Samosa- 
ta, formed this sect : though others are 
of opinion that they were thus called 
from another Paul, an Arminian by 
birth, who lived under the reign of Jus- 
tinian II. In the seventh century, a 
zealot, called Constantine; revived this 
drooping sect, which had suffered much 
from the violence of its adversaries 
and was ready to expire under the se- 
verity of the imperial edicts, and that 
zeal with which they were carried into 
12 



90 THE BAPTIST 

execution." 

Milner also calls the Paulicians a sect. 

After suffering much, from persecu- 
tion, and many of them being put to 
death, Milner continues : 

Upon this, they entered into a league 
with the Saracens, and choosing for 
their chief an officer of the greatest res- 
olution and valor, whose name was 
Corbeus, they declared war against the 
Greeks, which was carried on for fif- 
ty years, with the greatest vehemence 
and fury." ( See Paulicians by Milner. ) 

All these conflicting accounts of the 
Paulicians, by Baptist writers, make 
an unfavorable impression. Then, for 
them to declare war against their ene- 
mies, and carry it on with such violence, 
and for such a protracted period, did 
not recommend them as the meek and 
lowly followers of Christ. For Christ 
taught his followers, saying, "Love 



SKELETON. 91 

your enemies, Tbless them that curse 
you, do good to them that hate you, 
and pray for them which despitefully 
use you, and persecute you." (Matt. 
5 : 44. ) 

Again, Christ says, "Behold I send 
you forth as lambs in the midst of 
wolves." Says Mr. Cox. "Did it ever 
happen that lambs made war upon 
wolves, or even fought in self defence? 
Speaking of Christ's kingdom, Mr. Cox 
says, "And as it is not of this world, the 
subjects will not fight, and as they did 
not fight for their King, they have nev- 
er fought for themselves." 

From the foregoing quotations, we 
may reasonably conclude that the 
Paulicians were not the humble disci- 
ples of Christ. 

Says J. Newton Blown, 

"It is an error in many writers to saj 7 , 
as is said in the article under this head, 



92 THE BAPTIS1 

in the body of this work ( Milner's Re- 
ligious Denominations), that the Paul- 
ieians were a branch of the Manachaens. 
Dr. AUix, Milner and Jones, not to 
mention others, have cleared them of 
this calumny. They were christians of 
an evangelical faith and spirit, who 
kept alive the flame of true piety in 
Europe in the Middle Ages/' (See 
Paulicians in Appendix to Milner's 
Religious Denominations. ) 

With all this jargon, and conflicting of 
evidence amongst Baptist writers, who 
can believe they have a linked and 
complete history or succession from 
the apostles ! Nay ; does not such con- 
fusion prove that, if they are not of 
Babylon, they are yet in Babylon ; al- 
though God has commanded his peo- 
ple to come out of her. 

But Baptists may say that Orchard 
is right, and Milner is wrong. That is 



SKELETON. 93 

what Mr. Brown says. But which would 
be most likely to give a correct and im- 
partial history, a man who is writing 
for the whole world, and his reputation 
as a historian at stake, or a sectarian, 
who is endeavoring to sustain his pecu- 
liar and favorite creed? Let the reader 
j udge. Orchard is endeavoring to iden- 
tify modern Baptists with the apostles, 
or rather, with John the Baptist, while 
Milner is presenting to the world a brief 
history of the religious denominations 
of the world. I will not weary the pa- 
tience of the reader with the whole doc- 
trinal creed of the Paulicians, but 
will give a few articles as specimens. 
The following is from Milner :- 
"1. They denied that this inferior 
and visible world is the production of 
the Supreme Being ; and they distin- 
guish the Creator of the world and of 
human bodies from the' Most Hia'h 



94 THE BAPTIST 

God, who dwells in the heavens; and 
hence," says Milner, some have been 
led to conceive that they were a 
branch of the Gnostics rather than of 
the Manachsens." 

Miss Hannah Adams, in her work 
entitled, U A view of all Religions," 
gives ns the following :- 

"Paulicians, a denomination formed 
in the seventh century, by two broth- 
ers, Paul and John, inhabitants of Je- 
rusalem ; from the former of which 
they derive their name. 

"The tenets attributed to this sect." 
says Miss Adams ( She too, calls them 
a sect ), are as follows :- 

"1. That this inferior and visible 
world is not the production of the Su- 
preme Being. 

"2. That the evil principle was en- 
gendered by darkness and fire, not self- 
originated and eternal. 



SKELETON. 95 

"3. That though Christ was the Son 
of God, yet he brought from heaven 
his human nature. 

"4. That Christ was clothed with an 
ethereal, celestial, and impassible 
body, and did not realy expire on the 
cross. 

"5. That the bread and wine, which 
Christ is said to have administered to 
his disciples at his last supper, only 
represented the divine discourses and 
exhortations of the Saviour, which are 
a spiritual food and nourishment to the 
soul, and fill it with repose, satisfac- 
tion and delight. Hence they refused 
to celebrate the institution of the 
Lord's Supper. 

"6. They rejected the books of the 
Old Testament; and looked upon its 
writers, as inspired by the Creator of 
the world, and not by the Supreme 
God. They received all the books pf 



96 THE BAPTIST 

the New Testament, except the epistles 
of St. Peter, which they reject, for 
reasons unknown to us." 

Baptists may identify themselves 
with the Paulicians, but the Paulicians 
never can be identified with the apos- 
tles. 

For a more definite explanation of 
the tenets of the Paulicians, see Man- 
achsens and Gnostics, in Milner's "Re- 
ligious Denominations. " 

We are fighting for a King, 
"Who will full deliverance bring, 
And we'll fight at his command, 
Till we gain the promised land. 



SKELETON. 97 



CHAP. 7. 

'For such are false apostles, deceitful 
workers, transforming themselves into 
the apostles of Christ^ Cor., 11: 13. 

OAYS Mr. Orchard: "In France, a- 
^ bout the- middle of the twelfth 
century, the Paulicians were known by 
the name of Albigenses, from their be- 
ing situated near the town of Alby." 
(Orchard's Hist., p. 138. ) 

According to Orchard, the Walden- 
ses and the Albigenses were the same 
in sentiment, but differently situated : 
the Waldenses abiding in the Valleys 
of Piedmont, and the Albigenses situ- 
ated near Alby, in France. They de- 
rived their name from Peter Waldo, a 
protestant or dissenter from the Roman 
Catholic Church. Baptists of late, how- 
ever, seeing the dilemma in which they 
13 



98 THE BAPT1S1 

are involved by the fact being known 
that the Waldenses were so called 
from Waldo, and that Waldo never 
appeared as a reformer, until after the 
middle of the twelfth century, are en- 
deavoring, by a strange subterfuge, to 
make it appear that the Waldenses 
were not the followers of Waldo, and 
that the}^ did not derive their name 
from him. They know that if it is gen- 
erally understood that the Waldenses 
came out of the church of Rome, by 
Waldo's protest, in the twelfth centu- 
ry, they cannot connect their history 
with the apostles, or identify them- 
selves with John the Baptist, as they 
seem anxious to do. 

Mr. Benedict, quoting Mr. Jones' his- 
tory, says, "Waldo at first, like other 
great reformers, had not the most dis- 
tant idea of withdrawing himself from 
the communion of the Romish Church • 



SKELETON. 99 

that his first attack on the superstitions 
of that body was against the mon- 
strous doctrine of transsulbstanciation." 
(Benedict's Hist., p. 23.) 

Does the foregoing quotation from 
the pens of Baptist writers of such 
note as Jones and Benedict, look like 
apostolic succession? And were they 
never connected with the Church of 
Rome? Or were they never in com- 
munion with the Catholic Church ? Also 
were they net reformers ? Read again ! 
Waldo at first, like oilier great reform- 
er$) had not the most distant idea of 
withdrawing himself from the commun- 
ion of the Romish church. 

But let us hear from others. Mr. Cox 
says, "Mr. Benedict and others saj r 
that the "Waldenses were missionaries, 
and he does not know how we [ Pre- 
destinarian Baptists ] can claim to our 
selves any likeness or connection with 



100 THE BAPTIST 

them, as lie sees nothing in cur practice 
to justify him, as an honest historian, 
to apply it to us. "But then," contin- 
ues Mr. Cox, "Mr. Benedict says, they 
[ the Waldenses ] went every where 
preaching. "Let us see," says Mr. Cox, 
"how they went ; whether it was being 
sent out by a missionary society, with 
outfit aiid funds in their pockets." 

Mr. Cox next quotes Mr. Jones, as 
follows : — 

"Waldo was now compelled to quit 
Lyons ; his flock in a great measure fol- 
lowed their pastor ; and hence a disper- 
sion took place, not unlike that which 
arose in the church at Jerusalem at the 
stoning to death of Stephen. The effects 
were also similar. Waldo himself re- 
tired into Dauphany, where he preach- 
ed with abundant success. Persecuted 
from place to place, he proceeded into 
Germany." (Jones' Hist, p. 260; Cox's 



SKELETON. 101 

Hist., pp. 423-425. ) 

Does not the foregoing, from such 
men as Benedict, Jones and Cox, give 
strong evidence that Waldo was the 
leader of the Waldenses ? especially, 
the first we quoted from Benedict ? I 
think, however, the most conclusive 
evidence is yet to come. 

"Waldenses or Valdenses," says 
Mr. Milner, "was a sect of reformers, 
who made their appearance about the 
year 1160." ( Here we have another 
sect, so denominated by Milner. ) "They 
were most numerous," continues he, 
"about the Valleys of Piedmont; and 
hence, some say they were called Val- 
denses, or Vaudois, and not from Peter 
Yaldo, as others suppose," 

Milner says that some suppose the 
Waldenses were so called from their 
being situated in the Valleys of Pied- 
mont ; but he quotes Moshiem as the 



102 THE BAPTIST 

best authority, and says : "Moshiem, 
however, gives this account of them : 
he says, that Peter, an oppuient mer- 
chant of Lyons, sirnamed Valdo, or 
ValidiSius from Vaux, or waldum, a 
town in the marquisite of Lyons, being 
extremely zealous for the advancement 
of true piety and christian knowledge, 
employed a certain priest, called Ste- 
phanus de-Evesa about the year 1160, 
in translating from Latin into French, 
the four gospels, with other books of 
holy scripture, and the most remark- 
able sentences of the ancient doctors, 
which were so highly esteemed in this 
century. But no sooner had he perused 
these sacred books with a proper de- 
gree of attention, than he perceived 
that the religion w^hich was now taught 
in the Roman church differed totally 
from that which was originally incul- 
cated by Christ and his apostles. 



SKELETON. 10^ 

Struck with this glaring contradiction 
between the doctrines of the pontiffs 
and the truths of the gospfel, and ani- 
mated with zeal, he abandoned his 
mercantile vocation, distributed his 
riches among the poor, and forming an 
association with other pious men, who 
had adopted his sentiments, and his 
turn of devotion, he began, in the year 
1180, to assume the quality of a public 
teacher, and to instruct the multitudes 
in the doctrines and principles of 
Christianity. 5 ' (See "Waldenses in Mil- 
ner's "Religious denominations of the 
world,") 

So, it appears that Moshiem inti- 
mates that Peter's sirname was, in one 
language, Waldo, and in another, Val- 
do, signifying that, to call them either 
Waldenses or Yaldenses, they yet de- 
rived their name from Peter. Hence we 
have the concurrent evidence of Bene- 



104 THE BAPTIST 

diet, Jones, Cox, MosMem and Milner, 
to prove that the Waldenses orig- 
inated with Waldo, about the year 
1160 or 1180; and Baptists must repu- 
diate their best historical authority, to 
deny it. J. Newton Brown, endeavor- 
ing to make it appear that they did 
not derive their denominational name 
from TValdo, quotes the following: 
"Crantz ( in his history of the United 
Brethren ) says : These ancient christ- 
ians, who, besides the several names of 
reproach given them, were at length 
denominated Waldenses, from one of 
their most eminent teachers, Peter 
Waldo ^ Mr. Cox offers about the same 
arguement as some of the foregoing, to 
try to make it appear that they did 
not derive their name from Waldo. 
But all such reasoning is mere sophis- 
uy, designed to cherish a favorite 
dogma. 



SKELETON. 105 

With such evidence as we have giv- 
en, no one wlo can give any credit to 
Baptist history can doubt but that the 
Waldenses derived their name from 
Peter Waldo ; and that in the twelfth 
century. 

But the Waldenses were profcestants. 
Mr. Cox, quoting Mr. Jones, with refer- 
ence to the them, says, ^In the first 
place they were > dissenters— protestant 
dissenters" But Baptists say that 
Protestantism is not the trne Church. 
The Waldenses also practiced ii fant 
baptism. 

Says Mr. Milner, "It is evident that 
the ancient Waldenses denied the ob- 
ligation of infant baptism, and that 
others rejected water baptism entirely ; 
bat Wall has labored to prove that 
infant baptism was generally practic- 
ed among them." 

Mr. Cox has subjoined, a long list of 



106 THE BAPTIST. 

denominational names, selected by Mr. 
Orchard, through which Baptists claim 
their descent, giving the date of the 
origin of each sect, and the historian 
from which he gathered his informa- 
tion. In this catalogue he gives Wall as 
the historian for the Waldenses and 
Pickards. As Wall is considered by 
Orchard as the best authority for the 
origin and practice of the Waldenses, 
we have no right to reject or invalidate 
his testimony on this subject; and he 
says infant baptism was generally 
practiced by them. 

Reinerius, an Inquisitor, observes : 
"They [ the Waldenses] declare them- 
selves to be the apostles' success- 
ors, to have apostolic authority, and 
the keys of binding and loosing. They 
say that a man is then first bap- 
tized when he is received into their 
community. Some of them say that 



SKELETON. 107 

baptism is of no advantage to infants, 
because they cannot actually believe." 

The foregoing quotation from Rein- 
erius, is given by J. Newton Brown, 
in his appendix to Miliier's Hist. 

The fact that some of the Waldenses 
held that baptism was of no advantage 
to infants, is satisfactory evidence that 
some of them at least, held that it was ; 
and it affords strong inference that 
they all practiced it. "That they under- 
stood and practiced immersion as bap- 
tism is evident," says Reinerius, "but 
whether they generally practiced in- 
fant baptism has long been a matter of 
dispute." 

"The w r ords of Reinerius," says Mr. 
Brown, "seem to imply that in this 
time ( 1250 ) they were of different opin- 
ions on this subject. The modern Wal- 
denses in the Valleys of Piedmont do 
practice it ; but they have so changed 



108 THE BAPTIST 

in many points since their amalgama- 
tion with the Calvinists at the refor- 
mation, having also received their pas- 
tors from them since 1663, that nothing 
decisive can be hence inferred." 

The foregoing is strong evidence 
from Newton Brown that the Wal- 
denses did, and still do, practice infant 
"baptism. 

Dr. Murdock thinks that the followers 
of Peter Waldo invariably practiced 
infant baptism. 

Further comment or testimony on 
this subject is unnecessary. The evi- 
dence is much stronger that the Wal- 
denses did practice infant baptism, 
than that they did not. In fact, we have 
positive historical evidence that they 
did practice it. Besides, Milner says 
some of them rejected water baptism 
entirely. 

But the AValdenses did not consti- 



SKELETON. lO 

tute the church of Christ. ISTo national 
organization or institution can consti- 
tute the church or kingdom of Christ; 
for Christ's kingdom is not of this 
world ; his kingdom is a spiritual king- 
dom, and the subjects of that king- 
dom must be spiritual subjects, or such 
as have been born of the Spirit, and 
have the Spirit of God bearing witness 
with their spirit that they are the chil- 
dren of God. That such is the case, no 
one who believes in Spiritual regenera- 
tion, or "experimental religion," can 
doubt or deny. I doubt not that there 
were many christians among the Wal- 
denses, and also among all other de- 
nominations, both ancient and modern. 
But that the Waldenses, as a commu- 
nity, did not constitute the church of 
Christ, is evident. Allowing all that 
Baptists claim on this subject viz., 
that the Waldenses derived the:: rme 



110 THE BAPTIST 

from their being inhabitants of the Val- 
leys of Piedmont, and the name would 
apply equally to the unregenerate as 
to the regenerate. Surely, no one is so 
simple as to suppose, or so inconsist- 
ent as to contend, that a civil commu- 
nity of sufficient numerical strength to 
afford more than one million victims, 
in two or three centuries, to gratify the 
blood-thirsty Eoman Inquisitors, and 
then have 800,000 inhabitants, as is 
computed to the Waldenses, by Cox 
and others, at the time of their dis- 
persion, — no one, I say, can suppose 
that all these were converted to the re- 
ligion of Jesus. Take, for instance, any 
considerable number of persons, all 
christians, and place them in a colony 
where they will be separate from the 
rest of the world, and leave them there 
for a few generations, until they were 
considerably multiplied in number, 



SKELETON. Ill 

and would they all be christians ? By 
no means. Then, for any man to eon- 
tend that all the Waldenses, or the 
greater part of them, were christians, 
is, to expose his ignorance or betray his 
prejudice. Besides, if the Waldenses, 
as a community, constituted the visible 
church of Christ, then, little children 
were members of the church ; for they 
were in the Valleys with their parents. 
Yet, Baptists, as well as myself, object 
to infant church-membership. But the 
Waldenses were republicans, and tol- 
erated religious liberty ! And did that 
make them the church of Christ ? If they 
were called Waldenses, because they 
inhabited the Valleys of Piedmont, 
and constituted the church of Christ, 
because they tolerated religious liber- 
ty, I might contend, and with equal 
propriety, that as the people of these 
United States are called Americans, 



112 THE BAPTIST. 

and tolerate religious liberty, they are 
the true church of Christ ; and that ev- 
ery man, woman and child, irrespect- 
ive of religious sentiment or moral 
character, is a member of that church. 

But Orchard, Cox and others, say 
that the valleys of Piedmont consti- 
luted the wilderness into which the wo- 
man fled. But we have ascertained that 
the woman, or church of Christ, is spir- 
itual, and not merely a civil communi- 
ty. So the wilderness into which she 
fled, is spiritual or moral darkness or 
obscurity, and not merely a solitary or 
desolate territory, or obscure part of 
the earth. 

"And the woman fled into the wilder- 
ness, where she hath a place prepared 
of G-od, that they should feed her there 
a thousand two hundred and three- 
score days." (Rev. 12: 6. ) 

Says Christ : "Upon this rock I will 



SKELETON. 113 

build my church, and the gates of hell 

shall not prevail against it. (Matt. 

16:18.) 

The gates of hell never did entirely 

prevail against, or overcome the Church 

« 
of Christ, because she was furnished, 

as it were, with two wings of a great 
eagle, and she lied into her secure lad- 
ing place in the wilderness. 

But Orchard, Graves and Cox — in 
fact, nearly all Baptist writers — admit, 
or rather, testify, that the wilderness 
is obscurity ; and Christ's Church fled 
into the wilderness, and was invisible 
to the world for the space of twelve 
hundred and sixty years. But Orchard, 
Graves and Cox, say that the Baptist 
church has been a visible organization 
all the while ; consequently, that 
church has never been in the wilder- 
ness ; and is not, therefore, the church 
of Christ. 

15 



114 THE BAPTIST. 

But all the various Baptist sects 
claim a connection with the Walden- 
ses, and yet all of them make baptism 
by immersion the door into their re- 
spective churches, and reject infant 
baptism, when it is evident that some 
of the Waldenses rejected water bap- 
tism altogether, and others practiced 
infant baptism. 

Mr. Cox says: "Having shown the 
doctrines, manners, and great antiqui- 
ty of the Waldenses, as given and ad- 
mitted by their enemies, in order to 
show their connection with the Apos- 
tolic Church at one view, I will now 
give what Mr. Orchard has taken pains 
to group together under one head, the 
names of the different sects : 

He then givs them in regular order, 
commencing with the year 1450, and 
runs back 1200 years. 



SKELE1 ON 



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116 THE BAPTIST 

Mr. Cox then proceeds as follows : 
"This shows a connection from the 
Apostolic church, as I have stated be- 
fore, Novatian separated from the 
Churcli at Rome on account of heresies 
and church discipline, and has contin- 
ued separate ever since. 

Although the Waldenses and their 
connection was considered heretical, or 
looked upon by all denominations as 
holding the most dangerous heresies, 
and was considered contemptible, yet, 
since the reformation, they being con- 
sidered the true church during the 
Dark Ages, all of the protestant de- 
nominations wish to claim a con- 
nection with them, although the Prot- 
estants of all denominations had a 
connection with the church of Rome, 
but by reformation after reformation 
have produced the present protestant 
churches, the most, if not all of them, 



SKELETON. 117 

holding some of the superstitions of the 
i Mother of Harlots] when it is admitted 
by Roman Catholics and various histori 
ans that the Waldenses never did ( since 
Novatiaii'S separation) belong to the 
Church of Rome." ( Cox's Hist. p. 208. ) 
Baptists condemn other denomina- 
tions for having been connected with 
the church of Rome, when they also had 
a connection with that same church. 
But they say they were the first to sep- 
arate from her. And are they on that 
account any the less related to her ? Is 
not a mother's first daughter as nearly 
related 1o her as her last one? And is 
not the first just as liable as the last, 
to partake of the mother's good or bad 
qualities ? But many of those denomin- 
ations are only grand- daughters and 
great grand- daughters of the 'Old 
Mother,' while the Baptist church, ac- 
cording to her own historians;, is the 



118 THE BAPTIST 

immediate and first offspring of the 
Catholic Church, the Tbegimiing of her 
strength. 

Admitting, as Mr. Cox does, that the 
Novatianists came out of the Church 
of Rome, and that Novatian was the 
first to begin a separate interest with 
success, then claiming a connection 
with the Novatianists, show that the 
Old Baptist Church is the oldest daugh- 
ier of the 'Mother of Harlots.' In fact, 
Novatian held the doctrine of predes- 
tination; and Mr. Orchard says the 
reason why so many of Luther's follow- 
ers left him, and joined in with Calvin, 
was because Calvin held Novation's 
views on predestination. 
The same writer continues : 
"A council was convened at Aries 
and at Lyons, A. D. 455, in which the 
views of the Novatianists on predesti- 
nation were controverted, and by which 



SKELETON. 119 

they were stygmatized." 

Milner, speaking of Baptists, with- 
out any distinction of sects, says : "In 
their doctrine, Baptists are in a high 
degree evangelical, holding the views 
commonly called 'Calvinistic,* as set 
forth in the writings of B anion, Gill and 
Fuller. 5 ' 

Holding the views of Calvin ! What 
were his views ? Says Mr. Milner : "The 
tenets of Calvin respect the doctrines 
of the Trinity, predestination, or par- 
ticular election and reprobation, orig- 
inal sin, particular redemption, effect- 
ual or irresistable grace in regenera- 
tion, justification by faith, and the per- 
severence of saints." 

"The confession of faith ratified by 
the Scotch parliament in 1580, declares 
that by the sin of our first parents, com- 
monly called original sin, the image of 
God was utterly defaced in man, and 



120 THE BAPTIST 

he and his posterity of nature became 
the enemies of God, slaves to Satan, 
and servants unto sin ; in so much that 
death everlasting has had, and shall 
have power and dominion over all that 
have noc been, are not, or shall not be, 
regenerated from above, which regen- 
eration is wrought by the power of the 
Holy Ghost working in the hearts of 
the elect of God an assured faith in 
the promise of God revealed in his 
word; that from the eternal and immu- 
table decree of God all our salvation 
springs and depends; God of mere 
grace, electing us in Christ Jesus his 
Son before the foundation of the world 
was laid. It further admits that we now, 
in the time of the evangil, have two 
chief sacraments only, to wit, baptism 
and the Lord's Supper; by the former 
of which, we are ingrafted in Christ 
Jesus to be made partaker of his jus- 



SKELETON. 121 

uce, "by which our sins are covered and 
remitted." ( See Calvinists, in Mil- 
ner's "Religious denominations of the 
world." ) 

The foregoing is a part of the Cal- 
visistic confession of faith. 

But Mr. Milner says, "Baptists are 
in a high degree evangelical, holding 
the views commonly called Calvin- 
istic." I suppose he considers Calvin's 
views evangelical. 

We ask again, What were Calvin's 
views? Calvin believed in the doctrine 
of predestination, or particular elec- 
tion and reprobaiion. Do Baptists "be- 
lieve that i Calvin believed in particu- 
lar redemption. ( That is, that Christ 
died for the elect only, ) Do Baptists 
believe that?' Calvin believed in irre- 
sistable grace in regeneration. ( That 
is, that God regenerates those whom 
he designs to save, whether they are 
16 



122 THE BAPTIST 

willing or unwilling. ) Do Bapti&ts "be- 
lieve that? Calvin believed that those 
whom God regenerates, or designes to 
save, were elected ( personally ) in 
Christ Jesus before the foundation of 
the world was laid. Do Baptists believe 
that? Calvin believed that by baptism 
we ( the elect ) are ingrafted into Christ, 
and made partaker of his justice, by 
which also our sins are covered and 
remitted. Our sins covered and remit- 
ted bg baptism ! Do Baptists believe 
that? 

If Baptists can subscribe to all the 
foregoing articles of faith, which is but 
a small part of the Calvinistic confess- 
ion, to what can they not subscribe ! 
Yet, Milner says, "Baptists hold views 
commonly called Calvinistic." 

But do other denominations of Bap- 
tists, as well as the Old School, hold 
Calvin's views on election and repro- 



SKELETON. 123 

bation ? The following will fully illus- 
trate, 

The followiug is from the Baptist 
Prize-Catechism, Entered According to 
Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by 
the American Baptist Publication 
Societj^, for which was awarded three 
hundred dollars, as being the best 
that could be produced. 

" Question 38. Do all men receive 
those benefits of the atonement? 

Ans. All men do not receive those 
benefits of the atonement, but those 
only who have been elected in Christ 
Jesus. 

"Q. 39. What is election? 

A. Election is the purpose of God, 
by which those who are saved were, 
before the foundation of the world, 
chosen to be conformed to the image of 
his Son, to whom they were given as 
his people. 



124 THE BAPTIST 

"Q. 40. Is injustice done to any by 
the election of some to be saved? 

"A. No injustice is done by election, 
for all men were deservedly condemn- 
ed, and God was not under obligation 
to save any." 

In the foregoing the doctrine of elec- 
tion and reprobation is boldly portray- 
ed. 

The following is from the Minutes of 
the Concord Association of United 
Baptists, in Missouri, for the year 1871. 

"God, of his mere good pleasure, and 
that he might make known the riches 
of his glory, he elected, or chose in 
Christ, a great multitude of all nations, 
kindreds, people and tongues, thereby, 
through the influence of the Holy 
Spirit, are effectually called ; because 
dead to sin, and alive to God." ( Arti- 
stes of Faith, Art. 5.) 

If Baptists are in sympathy with 



SKELETON. 125 

Calvinism, they are very nearly allied 
to Supralapsarianism. 

"The Supralapsarians, says Mr. Mil- 
ner, "are persons who bold that God, 
without any regard to the good or evil 
works of men, has resolved, by an eter- 
nal decree, Supra lapsum, antecedent- 
ly to any knowledge of the fall of Ad- 
am, and independently of it, resolved 
to save some and reject others: or, 
in other words, that he intended to glo- 
rify his justice in the condemnation of 
some, as well as his mercv in the sal- 
ration of others ; and for that purpose 
decreed that Adam should necessarily 
fall." ( See Supralapsarians, in Milner's 
"Religious Denominations." ) 

The difference between Calvinism 
and Supralapsarianism is very slight. 
The principle difference is, as follows : 

Calvinism teaches that God foreor- 
dained and decreed, before he made 



126 THE BAPTIST 

man, or even before the foundation of 
the world was laid, that a part of the 
human family should be saved, and 
that others should he damned ; and in 
the creation made them for that ex- 
press purpose ; and, by his foreknowl- 
edge, elected a part, in Christ Jesus, 
unto eternal life, before the foundation 
of the world was laid. But the other 
part, or non-elect, being vessels of 
wrath, fitted to destruction, were made 
for the express purpose of glorifying 
God, by being subjected to, and con- 
fined in, eternal punishment: and that 
no action of men, either good or bad, 
can change the unalterable decrees of 
God, in the salvation of the elect, or 
damnation of the non-e]ect. Such, in 
substance^ is Calvinism. 
Supralapsarianism teaches that God, 
regardless of the good or evil works of 
men, or even before he himself had any 



SKELETON. 127 

knowledge of the fall of Adam, and 
previous to his creation, had deter- 
mined to glorify his justice in the con- 
demnation of some, as well as his mer- 
cy in the salvation of others : or, that 
he intended to save some and reject 
others ; and for that purpose, decreed 
that Adam should necessarily fall. 
Such, in substance, is Supralapsarian- 
ism. 

An argument against one of these 
most abominable and erroneous sys- 
tems will well apply to the other. 

This subject contains a sufficiency 
of matter for a lengthy discussion, but 
a brief and passing notice must suffice 
for the present. 

The Scriptures abundantly teach 
that God is all-mighty, all-wise, and full 
of justice and mercy. The doctrines 
we propose to discuss do not necessa- 
rily impeach either the power or the 



128 THE BAPTIST 

wisdom of God, but wherein do tliey 
exhibit either justice or mercy? God 
had the wisdom to dictate, and the pow- 
er to create, and of course could make 
man just as he desired or willed that 
he should be. He willed that he should 
be in Ids own inmge and likeness, — 
and he made him so. After God had 
made man, he gave him a law to keep 
and live ; but the penalty annexed to 
a violation of the law, was death. Man 
violated the law, and, consequently, in- 
curred the penalty. "And as in Adam 
all die, even so in Christ shall all be 
made alive." (Not unto eternal life, but 
from the grave, and brought to judg- 
ment. ) 

But if God decreed that man should 
sin, then God is the author of sin. But 
if it is argued that God put it into the 
heart of man to sin, in order that he 
might be just in his condemnation, we 



SKELETON. 129 

argue that lie would have Ibeen equally 
just, and justifiable, in condemning 
him without sin. 

Again: "Sin is a transgression of the 
law." But why should God threaten 
man with death for a transgression of 
his law, and then compel him, "by a 
former decree, to transgress? And ac- 
cording to Calvinism and Supralapsa- 
rianism the non-elect could not obey 
God's law, because he had decreed that 
they should not. And it would be 
equally absurd for God to lay any pen- 
alty on the elect for a violation of his 
law, when he knew they could not, and 
would not, because he had decreed 
that they should not, violate it. Why 
say to the non-elect: "Except ye 
repent, ye shall perish,'' when he knew 
they could not repent? Or why say to 
the elect: ;4 Except ye repent ye shall 
perish," when he had foreordained that 
17 



130 THE BAPTIST 

none of them should perish? But how 
reaclest thou? "For the Son of man 
is come to seek and to save that which 
was lost.'' But if the above theories be 
true, the elect never was lost, and the 
non-elect never can be saved. Christ, 
therefore, died in vain. 

Again : "The Lord is not slack con- 
cerning his promises, as some men 
count slackness ; but is long-suffering 
to us-ward : not willing that any should 
perish, but that ail should come 1o re- 
pentance. " But God willed that the 
non-elect should perish (if so be that 
he decreed it ), but the elect needeth 
no repentance : for all they do, either 
good or bad, is in accordance with 
the will of God ; and no one should re- 
pent for having done that which God 
has willed or decreed that he should do. 

I once engaged in conversation with 
two ministers who called themselves 



SKELETON. 131 

United Baptists, "but held the doctrine 
of election and reprobation, and, with 
reference to that subject, said they be- 
lieved that God and the devil work in 
complete harmony with each other; 
that God decreed that man should fall, 
and for the accomplishment of that de- 
cree, commissioned the devil to go and 
seduce our first parents. According to 
this doctrine, God intended, for his own 
glory, to save a few of his creatures, 
and for his own pleasure to damn, 
irrespective of age or quality, all the 
rest. Thus, when we read in the bible, 
or hear christians speak of the warfare 
carried on between God and the devil, 
it is mere trickery. God sends out his 
soldiers, equiped with the sword of the 
Spirit, they hoist the banner of the 
cross, and raise the battle cry, and this 
sham fight begins. God pretends that 
he is trying to subdue all things unto 



132 THE BAPTIST 

himself, although he had from all eter- 
nity decreed that he never would be 
reconciled. In the midst of all this tu- 
mult and confusion, Christ appears up- 
on the stage, and proposes a reconcil- 
iation ; but before it is fully effected, 
he rescues the select [elect] few, and 
bears them safely and joyfully off the 
field of strife; and while they are giv- 
ing God the glory for their deliverance, 
he hurls millions of their brethren and 
of their fellow beings, down to eternal 
perdition. Such is the undeviating ten- 
dency of the doctrine of election and 
reprobation. 

This subject, so far from being ex- 
hausted, is scarcely scanned; but the 
doctrines investigated are so absurd 
and ridiculos, that I presume they will 
soon vanish before the dawning light 
of the Millennium, so we will not wea- 
ry the patience of the reader^ with 



SKELETON. 133 

lengthy arguments. 

Shame on men who preach such doc- 
trine ! a doctrine so debasing to the 
character of a just and holy GOD ! 

We search around the earth, 
In every clime and nation, 
Amongst the men of every birth, 
Throughout the whole creation: 

A doctrine more debasing, 

To either God or man, 
Or fraught with more injustice, 

Has never yet been known ! 



134 THE BAPTIST 



CHAP. 8. 

"I told you before, and foretell yon, as 
if I were present, the second time : and, 
being absent now I write to them which 
before have sinned, and to all other, 
that, if I come again, I loill not 
spare:" 2 Corinthians, 13:2. 

T^ASSING- over £[ ie history of sever- 
al sects of reformers, and coming 
down to about the year 1260, we have 
the following from Mr. Orchard: ^Hav- 
ing brought the outlines of the Albi- 
gensian history to the period of their 
Church's destruction, and the trans- 
fer of their territory to the See of 
Rome, we shall now submit a few ob- 
servations and testimonials on their 
denominational aspect." 

The terms, "Waldenses" and "Albi- 
genses,- ' it seems, have been used or 



8KELET0N. 135 

employed by Baptist writers to desig- 
nate or embrace all the reformed or 
protestant denominations through 
which they claim their descent, down to 
about the year 1260 ; or that they are 
the same people who had previously 
been known by different names ; a list 
of which has been submitted. 

Speaking of those denominations 
which Baptists call apostolic success- 
ion, Mr. Orchard says : "However re- 
mote their antiquity no records exist as 
to any of these cliurches being apostol- 
ic : though the fact is beyond all contra- 
diction, that early and late dissenters 
in religion, were found in these valleys, 
and other provinces, who were never 
in communion with the church of 
Rome. 5 ' Mr. Cox says, "since Nova- 
tion's separation." 

Again, Mr. Orchard says, "Though 
we have no document proving apostolic 



136 THE BAPTIST 

foundation for these churches, yet it 
becomes evident that some communi- 
ties did exist there [In the Valleys 
of Piedmont ] in the second century, 
since it is recorded that they practiced 
believer's baptism by immersion." 

Mr. Orchard gives the foregoing quo- 
tation -to show the great antiquity of 
the Waldenses. and to show their state 
of separation from the church of Rome. 
But he says these communities \vere in 
the Valleys in the second century, and 
admits that there is no record or docu- 
ment showing them to be apostolic. 
( That is, those communities which he 
says were in the Valleys in the second 
century. ) But Mr. Cox says the woman 
[ Church of Christ ] made her first 
flight into the wilderness [ Valleys ] 
in the reign of Decius, about the mid- 
dle of the third century. Hence those 
communities of which Mr. Orchard 



SKELETON. 137 

gives account, as being in the Vallejs 
in the second century, could not have 
been the church of Christ, according to 
Mr. Cox's account. 

But more on this subject at another 
time. 

Mr. Orchard says he has traced, or 
brought the Albigensian history to the 
period of their cliurclfs destruction, 
and the transfer of their territory to the 
See of Rome. Where was the church of 
Christ then a visible organization \ 
About the year 1433. a division took 
place amongst the remaining protest- 
ants, which seemed to destroy their in- 
fluence. About the year 1457, those 
scattered protestants, though enter- 
taining various religious sentiments, 
united themselves into one society, un- 
der the name of "United Brethren." 
( Orchard's Hist, pp. 247, 248. ) 

Baptists claim to have been a dis- 
18 



138 THE BAPTIST 

tinct, visible organization from the year 
33, or even from the days of John the 
Baptist, down to the present time, 
Where, I ask again, was their identity, 
when all those sects of dissenters from 
Romanism were merged into one mass, 
though differing materially in senti- 
ment? If we contend that all those sects 
were apostolic, it will destroy the apos- 
tolic identity of any one of them : but 
if we claim that one of them, only, was 
apostolic, and that all the others were 
corrupt, then that one class or denom- 
ination destroyed their apostolic iden- 
tity, and corrupted the purity of their 
faith, by their amalgamation with those 
anti-christian sects. 

But what do we hear from them next ? 
Those United Brethren, being worn oat 
by the persecutions and privations in- 
flicted upon them by the Romans, were 
contemplating a compromise wiih the 



SKELETON. 139 

Catholics when Luther appeared as a 
reformer in Germany, in the year 1516. 
Those United Brethren hearing of Lu- 
ther, wrote to him on the subject of re- 
form, and afterwards submitted to his 
views, and agreed to leave off re-bap- 
tizing those who came over to them 
from other denominations, though they 
had previously practiced it. ( Orchard's 
Hist., p. 252, ) 

After the reformation by Luther, 
Calvin appeared as a reformer, about 
the year 1534. Many of those puritans 
who had joined Luther, now left him, 
and fell in with Calvin. (Orchard's 
History, p. 285. ) 

Here it appears that all former line- 
age of orthodoxy or Puritanism was 
lost; and these two great reformers, 
viz., Lutlier and Calvin, took the Lead 
in Protestantism. 

There are several features connected 



140 THE BAPTIST 

with the foregoing, which deserve a. 
passing notice. First: That Luther w^as 
a protestant no one would dare deny ; 
and Mr. Orchard says, all those sects 
or denominations who dissented from 
Popery, had united in forming the 
church of the United Brethren, and 
that the United Brethren joined Lu- 
ther, and afterwards a portion of them 
left Luther, and joined Calvin, anoth- 
er reformer, because he held Xova- 
lian's views on predestination. 

Here were Luther and Calvin taking 
the lead in Protestantism, while all 
the Catholic powers were raging with 
fury, and endeavoring to stop the cur- 
rent of reform ; and if there was at that 
time another visible organization, sep- 
arate and apart from any and all of 
these, which constituted the visible 
church of Christ, it remains yet to be 
shown ; for no historian has ever point- 



SKELETON. 141 

ed it out, nor ever will; for the woman 
was yet in her obscure retreat in the 
wilderness. 

Dropping back, however, to the time 
when the United Brethren fell in with 
Luther, they agreed, as before stated, 
to leave off re-baptizing those who came 
over to them from other parties, and 
not practice it any more in the future. 
But Baptists (many of them ) have vi- 
olated their pledge, broken their cove- 
nant, and resumed their old piactice 
of re-baptizing. 

But let us inquire: — By whom was 
re- baptism instituted? I think we may 
safely answer, by the church of Rome. 
Mr. Bowling says: "About the year 
312 the Asiatic christians [ catholics] 
came to a determination in a point that 
was hitherto, in some measures, unde- 
cided; and in more than one council 
established it as a law that all heretics 



142 THE BAPTIST 

were to be re-Tbaptized before their ad- 
mission to tlie communion of the 
church." (Bowling's Hist. Of Roman- 
ism, p. 33. ) 

Says Mr. Miiner: "The Donatists it 
is said, held that baptism conferred 
out of the church, that is, out of their 
sect, was null, and accordingly they re- 
baptized those who joined their party 
from other churches; they also re-or- 
dained their ministers." 

Miiner does not give it as a histori- 
cal fact that the Donatists did re-bap- 
tize, but that it is said they did. And 
if they did, it does not follow that they 
first instituted it. And even if it could 
be established as a fact that the Don- 
atists did first institute re-baptism, it 
would reflect no honor on others to fol- 
low their example, since it is also a 
fact, well authenticated, that they were 
a sect of schismatics, holding the doc- 



SKELETON. 143 

trine of Aiianism. 

But Mr. Dowling says, it was in the 
year 312 that the Asiatic catholics came 
to a determination in this point ( that 
is, re-baptism ), which was hitherto, in 
some measure, undecided. This shows 
that the subject had been in agitation 
before, even in thai portion of Roman- 
ism; and clearly indicates that it had 
been previously established in other 
portions c-f the catholic church. As has 
been previously observed, Donatus ap- 
peared as a reformer, or as a dissenter 
from the rising powers of Catholicism, 
in the year 311, and in the following 
year (312), this long agitated subject 
[re-baptism] was established in the 
catholic church. 

From the foregoing, it is evident that 
re-baptism originated with the Old. 
Mother of Harlots. Vv T hen I see how 
pertinaciously Baptists persist in the 



144 THE BAPTIST 

practice of this Romish institution, I 
am forcably struck with the language 
of the prophet: "As is the mother, so 
is her daughter." (Ez. 16 : 44. ) 

How remarkably strange that people 
who contend, as Baptists do, that there 
is no essentiality in the ordinance of 
baptism, should be so scrupulous as to 
who administers it ! especially, if it is 
administered by their favorite mode — 
immersion — as nothing else will do 
them. 

Be it so, they practiced re-baptism, 
for which Mr. Cox and others say, they 
were called Ana-baptists. 

I will make a few quotations from 
Mr. Cox on this subject. On p. 531. 
speaking of those whom he calls bap- 
tist succession, he says, -'They were 
all called Ana-baptists because they re- 
baptized all that came to their com- 
munion whether or not they had been 



SKELETON. 145 

immersed by other denominations, 
thereby invalidating the baptism of 
all others, for which they have suffer- 
ed persecution in all countries." 

Again, quoting Mr. Benedict, Mr. Cox 
gives us the following : — "Benedict, p. 
319. 'Rev. Robert Bailie, a distinguish- 
ed divine among the Scotch Presbyte- 
rians — he was a member of the West- 
minster Assembly, and labored with 
great assiduity to carry the Presbyte- 
rian party into power, on the ruins of 
the established church.' " 

Says Mr. Cox : "These are his words." 

"1st. 'The Westminster Assembly 
in close league with Parliament, is now 
in session, A. D. 644.' " 

"The sectaries of divers sorts, Ana- 
baptists chiefly, increased here; very 
many are for total liberty of all relig- 
ions, and write very plausible treatises 

to that end." 

19 



146 THE BAPTIST 

"The fiist day of our settings, after 
our vacation, a number of compliments 
were given in against the Anabaptists 
and Antinomians, huge increase and 
insolence intolerable. 

"Our next work is, to give our advice 
what to do for the suppression of Ana- 
baptists, Antinomians and other secta- 
ries. This will be hard work." 

Again, quo ring Mr. Orchard, Mr. 
Cox says: "In 1560, this prohibition 
(having reference to a former edict) 
was put in force in Humburgh, with 
further injunction, that no re-baptized 
person shall be taken into employ- 
ment, or exercise any profession." 
(An edict against Anabaptists, Bene- 
dict's Hist., p. 113. ) 

The following is one article of said 
edict : 

"Article 3. No person was allowed 
to harbor the Anabaptists, or afford 



6KELET0N. 147 

them any comfort, or to suffer their 
meetings in their houses or on their es- 
tates." 

That was certainly very wrong, but 
Baptists have frequently treated us 
In the same manner. 

I have given the albove quotations 
to show that Orchard, Benedict and 
Cox, all claim a connection with, and 
identify themselves as, Ana-baptists. 

I might multiply quotations, but 
deem it unnecessary. I would have the 
reader bear this fact constantly in 
mind, viz., That Baptists generally, 
and Messrs. Orchard, Benedict and 
Cox, amongst the number, boast of 
their connection with the Ana-baptists. 

We will now hear from Mr. Milner. 
He says, "Anabaptists are those who 
maintain that "baptism ought always 
to be performed by immersion. "The 
word' 1 he says, "is compounded of ; a 



148 THE BAPTIST 

11 and 'a Baptist;' signifying that 
those who have been baptized in infan- 
cy ought to be baptized anew." Milner 
continues: "The Anabaptists of Germa- 
ny, besides their notions concerning 
baptism, depended much on certain 
ideas which they entertained concern- 
ing a perfect church establishment, 
pure in its members, and free from the 
institutions of human policy." 

Milner' s definition of Ana-baptists is, 
first, that they contended that baptism 
ought always to be performed by im- 
mersion: secondly, they required of 
those who had been baptized in infan- 
cy, on coming to their communion, to 
be baptized anew. 

But many Baptists of modern times 
require of all who join them from other 
denominations, to be baptized again, 
even if they have been baptized in 
adult age, on a profession of faith, and 



SKELETON. 149 

that by immersion. 

. Now, as Ana-baptists were so called 
from their notions of immersion, and 
because they practiced re-baptism, and 
the word also implies a new Baptisi , wu 
may reasonably infer that neither im- 
mersion nor re-baptism have been so 
long practiced as Baptists would have 
us believe. At any rate, they are not 
of apostolic origin. We have, however, 
one instance of re-baptism in the time 
of the apostles ; that was when Paul 
baptized some of John's disciples, be- 
cause John's was not christian baptism. 

Baptist writers say that the Dona- 
tists practiced re-baptism, and conse- 
quently, were called re-baptizers and 
Ana-baptists. ( See Cox's Hist., p. 195. ) 

But the Donatists were schismatics : 
so says Milner. 

Speaking of the Ana-baptists of Ger- 
many, Mr. Milner says, they were soon 



150 THE BAPTIST 

joined by great numbers, whose char- 
acters and capacities were very differ- 
ent : some of them endeavoring to form 
a new church. "The most pernicious 
faction," says Milner, "of all those 
who composed this motley multitude, 
was that which pretended that the 
founders of this new saidperfeci church 
were under a divine impulse, and were 
armed against all opposition by the 
power of working miracles." 

"The Ana-baptists taught that as 
neither the laws of nature nor the pre- 
cepts of the New Testament, had pro- 
hibited polygamy, they should use the 
same liberty as the patriarchs did in 
this respect." 

They first tried to establish their 
principles by persuasion, but failing 
in thiSj they attempted to propogate 
their sentiments by force of arms; and 
by raising insurrections from time to 



SKELETON. 151 

time, caused much trouble. (See Ana- 
baptists, in Milners ''Religious De- 
nominations." ) 

When we consider that Ana-bap- 
tists are those persons who contend 
that baptism ought always to be per- 
formed by immersion, for which they 
were called, New baptizers, we are 
forced to the conclusion that immer- 
sion was not the original mode, and 
when it was instituted, those who 
practiced it, were called, new baptizers; 
and in after times they assumed the 
name of Ana-baptists, or were so cal- 
led by others ; that is, within the last 
few centuries : for formerly there were 
no Baptists — none designated by that 
name. Baptists being judges. 

Mr. Cox says, The JNbvatianists and 
Donatisis practiced re-baptism, and 
were called, 're-bap tizers.' As before 
remarked, tlie term, 'Anabaptist, 5 has 



152 THE BAPTIST 

"been applied to them by modern wri- 
ters ; for Baptists themselves admit 
that they were called, Novatianists 
and Donaiists, and not Baptists. 

But let us have a fair understanding 
of this subject. If there was a dispute 
in Novatian's time, about the mode of 
baptism, and he contended that bap- 
tism ought to be performed by immer- 
sion, for which he and his followers 
were called, "re- baptizers," or "new 
baptizers," as the word implies, it is 
evident that immersion was not the on- 
ly mode practiced in Novatian's time; 
nor even the original mode : and Nova- 
tian separated from the church of Rome 
in the year 251. Baptists, however, con- 
tend that no other mode but immersion 
was known for several centuries after 
the time of the apostles. 

J. Newton Brown, speaking of the 
Mormons, says, "There is a striking 



SKELETON. 153 

analogy between the origin and princi- 
ples of this sect and those of the fanat- 
ic Anabaptists of Minister in 1535. Both 
claim prophetic powers, miracles and 
revelations, supplementary to, and 
over-riding the written word of God. 
Both practice polygamy." (See Mor- 
mons, in Appendix to Milner's "Relig- 
ious Denominations of the world." ) 

From the evidence before us we learn 
that the Ana-baptists were fanatics, 
polygamists and insergents. Yet, for 
all ihis, Baptists of all denominations 
boast of their connection with them. 

When Baptists represent themselves 
as being the true church, they should 
inform the public which one of the 
fourteen different denominations is 
meant, so that persons seeking mem- 
bership in the true church, will not 
make a mistake, and unite with the 
wrong sect. 

20 



154 THE BAPTISE 

Doubtless, there are many good men 
and women connected with the various 
Baptist churches ; I should be sorrow 
to think otherwise. I have many friends 
and near relatives who are associated 
with, and members of Baptist church- 
es ; and I respect them. Some of them, 
however, will probably become offen- 
ded with me for exposing the errors 
with which they are associated. But it 
is all intended as friendly advice, for 
their good. 

You will remember that Mr. Ray 
says, if not directly, indirectly, that 
the institution usually known as the 
Baptist church, is only a thing ; and a 
thing not described is a non des-cript. 

My dear readers pardon me for the 
liberty I shall take to ask you one se- 
rious question : — From the evidence 
before you, which do you think the 
Baptist church most lesembles, the 



SKELETON. 155 

Bride of Christ, adorned in all her 
beautiful ornaments of grace, or some 
non dc-script skeleton? Mr. Ray says 
the thing had the resemblance of a 
church; but churches are so diversified 
these times, that to say it resembled a 
church, conveys no definite idea. 

Doubtless, many of you have not 
taken the time aid trouble as I have 
done, to investigate this subject; and 
probably some of your spiritual advi- 
sers, or some designing critics, will en- 
deavor to make you believe that what 
I have written is no1 true. You have no 
right, however, to dispute, or even 
doubt my statements, until you have 
referred to the histories from which I 
have quoted, turned carefully to the 
pages, and have read for yourselves, 
and then you will be convinced. 

Most of the books I have quoted can, 
I presume, be had by referring to the 



156 THE BAPTIST 

St. Louis Book and News Co.. St. Louis, 
Mo. 

I know I am contending against ex- 
traordinary talent and learning, while 
I am illiterate and unlerned. I need not 
inform the reader that I was never in a 
College or a Theological Seminary, for 
my style of writing will bear testimo- 
ny to that fact. I was raised in the 
u back-woods,/ ' and got my education 
principally by the fire- side; and that 
while others were asleep. How be it, 
"The wisdom of the world is foolish- 
ness with God." And again, "The fool- 
is) mess of God is wiser than men, and 
the weakness of God is stronger than 
in en." 

Mr. Cox says, the present systems 
of Missionary operations constitute 
the three andean spirits like a frog, of 
which 1 do not propose to speak defi- 
nitely at this time. He also says (and 



SKELETON. 157 

truly too ) that the world has been im- 
posed upon and religion ( not Christi- 
anity ) ruined, by means of those The- 
ological Institutions for educating un- 
regenerated men to supply those mis- 
sionary calls. 
«/ 

I will make a quotation from Mr. Cox, 
in his own words. 

"Seeing the immense amount of mon- 
ey that has been begged and filched 
from the people to build up those in- 
stitutions, and to educate these young 
men, and then to sustain them in all 
their proflagacy after they are educa- 
ted, the departure from the true doc- 
trine and worship of God. by educa- 
ting unregenerated men for ministers 
of Christ, who would not say that this 
is the fruit of the unclean spirit like a 
frog. Were you ever at one of these 
Theological institutions, where there 
were a number of those students, and 



158 THE BAPTIST 

did you see what boldness, almost 
amounting to impudence, the swelling 
and strutting ; or did you notice him 
in what is called a sacred desk, before 
a large congregation, with each thumb 
in the armholes of his vest, with his 
head thrown back, and put on such an 
air of self-importance, or else reading 
his sermons over, turning leaf by leaf." 
( Cox's Hist, p. 436. ) 

But, are Baptists associated with 
those institutions? We will let Milner 
and Brown answer this question. 

'\Beside the Home Mission Society," 
says Mr. Brown, "whose field is all 
North America, the Baptists have Con- 
ventions or general Associations in ev- 
ery State for domestic Missions, and 
Educational Societies for the aid of li- 
centiates preparing for the ministry 
in Colleges and Theological Semina- 
ries, of which there are over 1000." 



SKELETON. 15£ 

( See Baptists in Appendix to Milner'a 
"Religious Denominations." ) 

Says Mr. Milner, "The Baptists are 
zealous friends of ministerial educa 
tion, as their numerous Colleges and 
Theological Seminaries show. Baptist 
Colleges. 32 ; Theological Seminaries, 
14; Academies and high Schools for 
both sexes, about 100; Periodical or- 
gans, 47." (See Baptists, in Milner' s 
"Religious Denominations." ) 

So we see that, according to their 
own writers, Baptists are extensively 
engaged in sending out one of the un- 
clean spirits like a frog. 

Baptists may consider the foregoing 
as plain language, but certainly cannot 
consider it harsh, since Mr. A. P. Will- 
iams, a Baptist writer, in a work enti- 
tled, 'The Lord's Supper," and I be- 
lieve on page 67, of that work, charges 
all who do noi believe in immersion, 



160 THE BAPTIST 

as being fools and infidels. 

But Baptists say they have been 
persecuted by the Religious establish- 
ments in almost all ages of Christian- 
ity ; and for no other reason, say they, 
than for their dissenting sentiments. 
This is in accordance with human na- 
ture, and is certainly very wrong. But 
why have Baptists persecuted United- 
Christians ever since their f rst effort 
to raise a church? They have never 
been considered treasonable nor dis- 
turbers of the peace. Our crime is, that 
we dissent, religiously, from Baptists. 

I long to see the moment come, 
When malice here shall cease, 

And christians all nnite in one, 
To live in perfect peace ! 



SKELETON. 161 



CHAP. 9. 

"And this is that spirit of antichrist, 
whereof ye have heard that it should 
come ; and even now already is it in the 
world." 1 John 1^:3. 

PERMIT me to deviate from the 
general tenor of my coarse, to of- 
fer some explanations relative to mat- 
ters of a more local character. It would 
be useless for any person to accuse me 
of ignorance, for no one is more fully 
sensible than myself, of that fact. And 
must I, on that account, hold my peace ? 
No ; God has commanded me to speak, 
and I cannot keep silence ! 
"When Luther, the great reformer of the 
sixteenth century, remonstrated a- 
gainst the errors of Popery, the catho- 
lics heaped upon him reproach and a- 
buse ; calling him a heretic, a mad-man, 
21 



162 THE BAPTIST 

a teacher of novelties, &c. "He is a- 
lone," said some of them, "and it is im- 
possible for us to believe that all the 
other doctors were so long in error." 
(D'Aubigne's Hist., Yol. 2, pp. 166, 
167. ) 

The catholics admitted that Luther's 
teaching was according to the scrip- 
tures, but because he was a poor monk, 
and alone, they would not tolerate him. 

So have Bapiists hurled against us 
various epithets of reproach, as : Sece- 
ders, heretics, hypocrites, fanatics, 
spotted cattle, &c. Many of them have 
acknowledged that our teaching is ac- 
cording to scripture, but because we 
are few in number, like the Lutherans 
at the commencement of the reforma- 
tion, they will not tolerate our cause. 
At some of our meetings, where there 
were a number of persons converted 
under my ministry, many of them 



SKELETON. 163 

whose characters were so irreproacha- 
ble and the evidence of their conver- 
sion so clear and convincing, that none 
could dare to accuse them of deception 
or hypocrisy, yet, some of the Baptists 
asserted, as a prosolyting scheme, that 
they believed I was acting under the 
influence of Satan: just as was said in 
the days of our Saviour: "He casteth 
out devils through Beelzebub the chief 
of the devils." We do not claim infal- 
libility, and for Baptists to contend 
that they never err in matters of relig- 
ion is, to dethrone the pope, and as- 
sume his position. How often we have 
heard Baptist ministers proclaim from 
the pulpit, that Baptists never practice 
any thing in their worship, or in their 
religious observances, for which they 
have not a thus saith the Lord. 

Pope Clement VII. while annoyed 
with the perplexing divorce case, be- 



164 THE BAPTIS1 

tween Hemy VIII. of England and 
Queen Catharine, broke the charm 
of papal infallibility. The case was tru- 
ly embarrassing, and the friends of 
Henry, as well as Henry himself, had 
become impatient for the pope to grant 
the divorce. Clement would gladly 
have gratified Henry, for the sake of his 
influence and support, but he was 
placed in such a difficult strait that he 
could not act. Charles V. was Catha- 
rine's nephew, and was opposed to the 
divorce ; and if the pope granted it, he 
would incur the displeasure of Charles. 
Mean time Henry's ministers had be- 
come both impatient and enraged. 
Said the chief envoy to the pope's min- 
isters, "O perverse race, instead of be- 
ing harmless as doves, you are as full 
of dissimilation and malice as serpents ; 
promising every thing but performing 
nothing. England will be driven to be- 



SKELETON. 165 

lieve that Grod has taken from yon the 
key of knowledge, and that the laws 
of the popes, ambiguous to the popes 
themselves, are only tit to be cast into 
the fire. The king has hitherto restrain- 
ed his people, impatient of the Romish 
yoke, but he will now give them ttie 
rein. A long and gloomy silence fol- 
lowed. Then the Englishman, sudden- 
ly changing his tone, softly approach- 
ed Clement, who had left his seat, and 
conjured him in a low voice to* consid- 
er carefully what justice required of 
him. 'Alas !' replied Clement, 'I tell 
you again, I am ignorant of these mat- 
ters. According to the maxims of the 
canon law the pope carries all laws in 
the tablets of his heart, but unfortu- 
nately God has never given me the key 
that opens them.' As he could not es- 
cape by silence, Clement retreated un- 
der cover of a jest, and heedlesly pro- 



166 THE BAPTIST 

nounced the condemnation of the pope- 
dom." 

Says the historian, D'Aubigne, "If 
he had never received the famous key^ 
there was no reason why the other 
pontiffs should have possessed it." 
( D'Aubigne's Hist., Vol. 5, p. 350. ) 

Modern Baptists claim infallibility, 
or that which amounts to the same. 
Catholics say the pope cannot err in 
matters of faith, and Baptists say they 
do not qit. If the pope cannot err, and 
Baptists can, but do not, which is most 
infallible ? As an Adventist writer says: 
We had as well have a catholic pope 
as a protestant one. 

How often Baptists have proclaimed 
from the Pulpit and from the Press, 
that they practice nothing in their 
worship or in their religious observ- 
ances, for which they have not a 'thus 
saith the Lord V Often have I heard cer- 



SKELETON. 167 

tain ministers proclaim these things 
from a certain Pulpit. Finally, those 
brethren became weary of stooping so 
low as to discharge all the duties Christ 
has "enjoined; especially with refer- 
ence to feet- washing. But how could 
they dismiss, with impunity, an ordi- 
nance so long practiced by them ; and 
held by some of them so sacred? On 
Saturday feet- washing was the theme: 
they assumed the position that United- 
Christians have ever occupied; that 
feet-washing preceded communion ; 
but how long, they did not know. The 
clergy were in favor of dispensing with 
that part of the services, until they 
should gain further information on that 
subject (and it would seem necessary, 
as they had only had eighteen hundred 
years to studdy it, ) ; but the laity 
strongly opposed the measure. On Sun- 
day they had all necessary prepara- 



168 THE BAPTIST 

tions made for communion and feet- 
washing — the elements at the foot of 
the pnlpit — and the same subject pre- 
sented. Here they had assumed the 
position of the pope ; they claimed to 
be the immediate successors of the 
apostles, having the laws of God; but, 
like Clement, they had not the key for 
opening the archieves that contained 
those laws. 'I tell you again,' said the 
pope, when urged with reference to the 
divorce, 6 I am ignorant of these mat- 
ters." ' "Brethren," said those Baptist 
ministers, as they stood in the pulpit, 
on Sunday, "we are feet-washers, but 
we want every thing done right, and 
we fear we have been practicing some- 
thing for which we have no thus saith 
the Lord." They took the sacrament, 
but dispensed with feet- washing. The 
perplexity and embarrassment of the 
clergy, and the disappointment and 



SKELETON. 169 

mortification of the laity 5 seemed tru- 
ly humiliating, and called for sympa- 
thy. 

If they had been so long in error, 
surely those who had gone before and 
those who follow alter them in the 
same practice, are also in error. 

They make an image to the first 
beast. 

If Baptists are only fallible mortals, 
which they would not dare deny, why 
should they condemn others for the 
same misfortune? Paul says : "Bear ye 
one another's burdens, and so fulfil the 
law of Christ." 

As has been previously stated, we do 
not claim infallibility. The most trivi- 
al mistakes which occur in all the bus- 
iness transactions of life, proclaim our 
fallibility. Even a mis-spelt word or a 
typographical error, of which the read- 
er will doubtless detect many in this 
22 



170 THE BAPTIST 

little book, declare that we are erring 

mortals. 

A Baptist minister once accosted me 
thus: — 'I tell you, Hiram, the Baptist 
cause is gone!" Said I, in surprise, 

"Why, brother 1" "Pride and 

ignorance," said he, "will be the down- 
fall of our church; nothing can pros- 
per in the hands of men so ignorant as 
the Baptist ministers of this country !" 

Come, dear brethren, bow to charity, 
and do not condemn us for faults so 
dominant in yourselves ! 

But Baptists tried to force upon the 
people the so-called New Translation 
or Revised Version of the New Testa- 
ment, published by the American Bible 
Union ; a species of infidelity of a dark- 
er dye than the works of Tom Pane, 
Yoltair, Volney or Hume, 

As I said in a previous chapter, I 
know 1 am contending against thou- 



SKELETON. 171 

sands of learned men. while I am fully 
sensible of my own ignorance. But I 
know also that God uses weak means 
to accomplish great ends; — the poor 
and the ignorant, raising them up out 
of obscurity. For this reason their 
books and themselves also, though un- 
impeachable, are often neglected or ig- 
nored. My little book entitled, "The 
church out of the wilderness," has 
been before the public twelve months, 
and if there has been any thing like an 
objection or argument urged against it, 
I am ignorant of the fact; yet, mai;y 
Baptists, through prejudice, have ut- 
terly refused to read it ; and thus keep 
themselves shut up in ignorance of its 
contents. Many others, however (and 
may God bless them ), have read it ; 
and we hope with profit to themselves 
and without ridiculing the book. Had 
such a book been written by a Spur- 



172 THE BAPTIST 

geon, a Moody, or some other renown- 
ed personage, it would have been 
sought, and read by all. 

Our eyes, that is. our intellectual 
eyes, are like Telescopes, which to look 
through one way, magnifies many fold, 
but to look through the other way, 
seems to contract. In taking a view of 
our good deeds we would gladly multi- 
ply them indefinitely, but our evil 
deeds we would diminish or cover np. 
But in examining the qualities of oth- 
ers, we reverse the instrument. Thus, a 
mote in our brother'^ eye looks larger 
tha:i a beam in our own. I know that 
prejudice, more or less, pervades 
of every heart. O for more ol God's 
grace to eradicate it! Fully sensible 
of my own imperfections, I often shud- 
der, and am brought, as it were, to the 
foot of the cross to plead for mercy ! 

I am not writing for sport or pleas- 



SKELETON. 173 

u re ; far from it : for this is the most 
unpleasant task of my laborious life. 
But the world, yea christians, are gone 
away backwards; and shall I refrain 
from speaking ! K~o. The Lord said to 
the prophet, "Cry aloud, spare not, 
lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and 
shew my people their transgression, 
and the house of Jacob their sins." He 
also said to Paul: "Speak, and hold 
not thy peace." And Paul says,, "A- 
wake thou that sleepest, and arise 
from the dead, and Christ shall give 
thee light." Surely, if ever God's peo- 
ple needed awaking, it is now. 

I would gladly lay down my pen, 
and consign my manuscript to the 
flames, and go forth to proclaim the 
glad tidings of salvation to perishing 
sinners ; but am sorrow to say that in 
almost every locality where I have 
preached, for the last seventeen years, 



174 THE BAPTIS1 

Baptists have risen up, and endeavor- 
ed to destroy the last vistage of good 
that was, or might have been effected. 
There is a point at which forbear- 
ance ceases to be a duty, and that point 
is just where it ceases to be a virtue. 
Years have gone by since we arrived 
at that point ; but we still clung to for- 
bearance as a refuge ; fondly, though 
vainly, hoping that they might relent. 
But no ; they seem to think every body 
have become intimidated. The world 
is flooded with their abusive., and in 
many instances, almost unmeaning lit- 
erature. "The Watchman's Reply, 
"The Great Iron Wheel, "Theodocia 
Ernest, "Baptist Succession, "The Bap- 
tist Battle Flag;" and a thousand oth- 
ers of a like character, just as if they 
would sweep Creation ! and must all 
the world keep silence ! In all my con- 
tests and difficulties with Baptists, I 



SKELETON. 175 

have used mild and pleasant language^ 
and recognized them as brethren. But 
instead of returning the same courtesy, 
they have raged and foamed like mad- 
men. D'Aubigne, on page 54, Vol. 2, of 
his history, narrates a circumstance 
that occurred about the time of the 
commencement of Luther's career as a 
reformer : A catholic, in a dispute with 
one of the reformers, gave way to such 
a violent fit of anger, that he actually 
expired. I have never seen a Baptist 
get so far excited as to expire, or seem- 
ingly any thing like it; but I have 
seen them so agitated in their contro- 
versies as to quake exceedingly. 

Dr. Eck, the great defender of the 
Romish Faith, in all his contests with 
Luther, met with nothing but humilia- 
tion and disgrace; and was forced to 
confess that Luther, according to the 
bible, was just right. When asked by 



176 THE BAPTIST 

the duke of Bavaria, if he could con- 
fute Luther's doctrine, replied as fol- 
lows : — u With the writings of the apos- 
tles and prophets, no ; but with those 
of the fathers and the councils, yes." 
( D'Aubigne's Hist., Vol. 4, p. 206. ) 

So have Baptists, even ministers, of- 
ten confessed that we can sustain our 
doctrines by the bible, and that they 
practice many things they cannot prove 
by the bible, but still persist iu the 
practice of those things, because some 
of the doctors have taught them, or be- 
cause they suppose them to be so. 

We have hitherto had to contend a- 
gainst the dragon, the beast, and the^ 
false prophet ; and now we see Dan- 
iel's he goat coming up. This, as broth- 
er R. S. Shoemate suggested, and as I 
have given notice in my book entitled, 
"'The church out of the wilderness," is, 
most certainly, Mormonism. Mormons, 



SKELETON. 177 

or Latter Day Saints, as they call them- 
selves ( a very nice name indeed ; 
though Latter Day Devils would be 
much more appropriate ), are increas- 
ing their numbers and extending their 
dominions with wonderful rapidity. 

Brethren, we have trials enough in 
this world, without adding to each oth- 
er's troubles and perplexities. I would 
respectfully admonish all, to stop a 
moment, and reflect; yea, reflect seri- 
ously upon the course you are pursu- 
ing! Death is abroad in the land, the 
Judgment awaits us, and hell hath en- 
larged herself and opened her mouth 
without measure ! 

Brethren, do you not know that a 
spirit of intolerance amongst christians 
has a tendency to corrupt the princi- 
ples of morality, and work oppression, 
and ought always to be carefully 
avoided, as a moral evil. 
28 



178 THE BAPTIST 

This world is a desert of sorrow and 

pain, 
Where nothing but hatred and enmity 

reign ; 
Bat there's a bright mansion prepared 

far above, 
Where saints, all united, are feasting 

on love. 

2 Come, brothers and sisters, let's join 

heart and hand, 

And march from this desert to fair Ca- 
naan's land : 

Tho' Satan still rages, and men may 
oppose, 

Our Jesus engages to vanquish our 
foes. 

3 We'll take up our armor, and 

march on our way ; 
We'll trust in our Jesus, and fervently 
pray; 



SKELETON. 179 

We all will be cheerful, and constant- 
ly sing ; 

How can we be fearful^ when Christ is 
our King ! 

4 We will love each other, and ever 

be kind; 
The love of a brother shall every one 

find : 
We'll never get weary, nor faint by 

the w r ay ; 
The hope of bright glory shall be our 

stay. 

5 Come, all you good people, and trav- 
el with me ; 

We'll journey together fair Canaan to 

see ; 
We'll travel to glory, to meet Jesus 

there, 
And in that bright mansion a crown we 

will wear. 



180 THE BAPTIST 



CHAP. 10. 

i% But I have a few tilings against thee, 
because thou hast there them that hold 
the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Ba- 
lak to cast a stumbling-block before the 
children of Israel" Rev. 2: 11^. 

OPEAKING- of the apostatized con- 
dition of those whom he calls apos- 
tolic succession, we have the following 
from Mr. Orchard : 

"Those modern "Waldenses are not 
Calvinists, they are not professed pu- 
ritans, they partake of the amusements 
and diversions of the world, they com- 
municate in State order four times a 
year. Dr. Gilly, who no doubt felt the 
tenderness of the ground he explored, 
says, in 1823, they do not object to in- 
fant baptism." He then exclaims: "A- 
las! how is the gold become dim!" 



SKELETON. 181 

( Orchard's Hist., p. 294. ) 

I ask again, "Where is the identity 
of the Baptist church ? Mr. Orchard ad- 
mits that the modern Waldenses par- 
take of the amusements and diversions 
of the world, that they communicate 
in State order ( that is, under the au- 
thority of the established church ) four 
times a year, and that they do not ob- 
ject to infant baptism. 

Does this look like apostolic succes- 
sion? 

Passing by Lollard, Wickliffe and 
Huss, we will next notice a contest be- 
tween Luther and Muncer, and the lat- 
ter is claimed by Baptists as a link in 
their chain of succession. (Orchard's 
Hist., pp. 344, 345.) 

Speaking of the oppression of Prot- 
estantism, Mr. Orchard says : "The tyr- 
anny of Catholics and Lutherans were 
equal in every thing except extent. Lu- 



182 THE BAPTIST 

ther never pretended to dissent from 
the church, he only proposed to dis- 
own the pope ; but in this partial con- 
duct, and mope-eyed device, all could 
not see with him. Amongst the Bap- 
tists, and one of the most eminent, w r as 
Thomas Muncer. He had been a priest, 
but became a disciple of Luther, and a. 
favorite with the reformed." Mr. Or- 
chard continues : "Luther only intend- 
ed to free the priests from obedience 
to the pope, and to enable the officers 
of the State to tyrannize over the peo- 
ple in the name of civil magistrates. 
Muncer saw this fallacy, and remon- 
strated against it." ( Orchard's Hist., 
pp. 349, 350. ) 

"On hearing ofMuncer's success," 
says Mr. Orchard, "Luther wrote to the 
magistrates of Mulhausen, to advise 
them to require Muncer to give an ac- 
count of his call, and if he could not 






SKELETON. 183 

prove that he acted under human au- 
thority, then to insist on his proving 
his call from God. by working a mira- 
cle !!!" (p. 351, Orchard's Hist. ) 

Just as abiggoted Baptist preacher 
once said of me : that he never would 
recognize me as a brother until I proved 
by working a miracle, that God had 
called me to preach the doctrines I now 
advocate ! 

They make an image to the first 
beast. 

The foregoing more fully confirms 
our position, viz., that Popery is the 
first or ten-horned beast, and Protest- 
antism the two-horned one. And we 
think it highly probable that the civil 
governments of England and the Uni- 
ted States will constitute the two horns 
of that beast. 

That Luther was a protestanu none 
will dare to deny ; and Muncer came 



184 THE BAPTIST 

out of the Lutheran church by protest 
( having been a catholic priest ), and of 
course a protestant. 

But Baptists say that Protestantism 
is not the true church. Baptists, there- 
fore, do not constitute the true church. 

If we have not proved positively, and 
that by Baptist testimony, that Bap- 
tists are protestants, there cannot be 
enough authentic evidence brought for- 
ward to prove that there is a protestant 
church in existence. 

We have heard Orchard's account of 
the contest between Luther and Mun- 
cer, we will now hear from D'Aubigne, 
acknowledged by catholics and pro- 
testants to be the most authentic histo- 
rian of the Reformation. Speaking of 
the d- \strons revolts and riots of the 
early part of the sixteenth century, he 
gives the following :— 

"The most notorious of these enthu- 



SKELETON. 185 

siasts was Thomas Munzer ; lie was not 
devoid of talent, had read his bible, 
was zealous, and might have done good, 
if he had been able to collect his agita- 
ted thoughts and find peace of mind." 
* * * . * «But the evil was not 
confined to the south and west of Ger- 
many; Munzer, after having traversed 
a part of Switzerland, Alsace and Swa- 
bia, had again directed his steps to- 
wards Saxony. A few citizens of Mul- 
hausen, in Thuringia, had invited him 
to their city, and elected him their pas- 
tor. The town-council having resisted, 
Munzer deposed it and nominated an- 
other, consisting of his friends, with 
himself at their head. Said he, "Like 
Joshua, we must put all the Canaanites 
to ihe sword." Declarations of, 'fire and 
8 word,' went forth, signed by munzer, 
as follows : "Munzer, servant of God 
against the wicked." fc. . ■■* ' * 
24 



186 THE BAPTIST 

"Terror spread far and wide." * 
"Munzer advances with a worse than 
Scj^thian cruelty, and it is impossible 
to repeal his dreadful threats." ( See 
D'Aubigne's Hist., Vol. 3, Chaps. 10, 
11, 12. ) 

"We might add page to page of the 
horrible cruelties and massacres asso- 
ciated with the Munceran riots, yet 
Baptists identify themselves with Mun- 
cer. 

It may be presumed that I am en- 
deavoring to overthrow the Baptist 
church ; but this is a mistake. No 
prophecy of scripture has ever yet been 
overthrown, nor any subject of proph- 
ecy overruled. The Baptist church is 
founded in error, and error will sus- 
tain it, until it has run its course, ac- 
cording to the prophecies. My object 
is to expose those errors to the blazing 
light of the latter part of the nine- 



SKELETON. 187 

teentli century. 

After the difficulties and contentions 
between Luther andMuncer, and after 
some of the sects who had been the 
followers ofMuncer, had changed their 
religions creed eight times in a quar- 
ter of a century, — yet those Muncer- 
an sects fell in with the Lutherans, 
and promised to never in the future 
practice re- baptism. (Orchard's Hist., 
p. 359.) 

Most of our modern Baptists have 
violated the pledge of their ancestors. 

1 doubt not that there are many — 
very many good, sincere christians in 
the various Baptist denominations ; 
and to such I say, in all christian friend- 
ship, come out of close communion and 
re-baptism. 

Tracing the history of chose societies 
organized by Muncer, to their termina- 
tion, we next notice one Mecno Simon, 



188 THE BAPTIST 

who was at Wilmersom, in Friezeland, 
A. D. 1496. Merino, however, first form- 
ed his followers into societies, A. D. 
1536, under the name of Mennonites. 
( Orchard's Hist., p. 369. ) 
a The Sociaiis," says Mr. Orchard, 
"with their pernicious charity, infected 
and divided these remaining Mennon- 
ite churches, and on their ejection from 
Poland, they flowed into this region of 
liberty, and impregnated the waters of 
the sanctuary with the wormwood of 
their doctrines ; consequently, the Men- 
nonii es, to a great extent, have depart- 
ed, in various respects, from the princi- 
ples and maxims of their ancestors, and 
their primitive austerity and puriiy is 
greatly diminished, especially among 
the Waterlandians and Germans. Their 
opulence relaxed their severities, and 
they now ( A. D. 1750 ), with others, en- 
joy the sweets of this life, und aie as 



SKELETON. 189 

censurable as any christian communi- 
ty. From the ascendency of a rational 
religion, and love of the world, divis- 
ions arose in the seventeenth and eigh- 
teenth centuries, which present the in- 
terests at this period in an humbling 
aspect The gold is become dim !" ( Or- 
chard's Hist., pp. 375, 376. ) 

"The sanctity of character aimed at 
by the Old Baptist interests among 
'the perfect class,' " says Mr. Orchard, 
"from the earliest days, and the imita- 
tion of them by the Mennonites in dis- 
cipline, occasioned some divisions a- 
mong this people A. D. 1552. A warm 
contest, concerning excommunication, 
was excited by several Baptists. The 
brethren carried the discipline to an 
undue rigor. Their austerity went into 
the social ties ( 1 Cor. 7 : 5. ), which 
was opposed by many of the commu- 
nity ; and now two visible sections 



190 THE BAPTIST 

formed the body of the Dutch Baptists. 
The parties were now distinguished by 
the terms of rigid and moderate." 
( Orchard's Hist, pp. 370, 371. ) 

There are just such divisions and con- 
tentions amongst Baptists at the pres- 
ent time as what Mr. Orchard gays took 
place amongst the Mennonites ; divid- 
ing them up into numerous sects : some 
historians say ten, and others, fourteen. 

Those of our Baptist brethren who 
contend for free communion, are most 
scriptural, but those who contend for 
close communion are most consistent. 
They all make immersion the door in- 
to their respective churches, and "with- 
out are dogs." The church, if she is 
what she ought to be, is the house of 
God: the Lord's Supper, if properly 
administered, is holy. And Christ says, 
"Give not that which is holy unto dogs. " 
The members of Christ's Church, if 



SKELETON. 191 

they are members indeed, '*by tlit? 
washing of regeneration and renewing 
of the Holy Ghost," are children of 
God. And again Christ says, "It is not 
mtet to take the children's bread, and 
cast it to dogs." Then, to administer 
the Sacrament to those who have not 
been immersed, because they are 
christians, and yet not allow them 
membership in the church, because 
they are not immersed, is giving that 
which is holy unto dogs ; or taking the 
children's bread, and casting it unto 
dogs. Those who are so scrupulous a- 
bout immersion as to make it a test of 
church-member-ship, must, to be con- 
sistent, make it a test of communion. I 
w T ould, therefore, advise those Baptist 
brethren who contend for free or open 
communion, in order to be called lib- 
eral or moderate, to stop their clamor 
against their Baptist brethren, about 



192 THE BAPTIST 

communion, or else against others, 
about immersion. 

So we see there have been protests, 
divisions and secessions amongst those 
people claiming apostolic, succession, 
from the days of Novatian to the pres- 
ent time. Baptists are divided into nu- 
merous sects, all claiming immediate 
connection with the apostles, yet dif- 
fering widely amongst themselves, and 
condemning each other as heretical 
sects. 

But notwithstanding the claims of 
Baptists to apostolic identity, they 
seem to be well aware that they can- 
not sustain their claims by the bible 
in its living language, and, therefore, 
resort to the dead languages. Why 
did king Saul, after he had transgress- 
ed the Lord's commands, resort to the 
dead for inform? c ? Because the liv- 
ing would not answer him. So now 



SKELETON. 193 

with those who resort to the dead lan- 
guages for evidence to sustain their 
claims, is because they cannot sustain 
them by the living. Bat Solomon .says, 
(Eccle. 9: 4. ), A living dog is better 
than a dead lion" I would not give 
one living witness for many dead ones. 
But in tracing this long chain of dis- 
senters through the various denomina- 
tional names previously giv^n from. 
]Sovatian to the present time, their his- 
torians have never given us any account 
of the time when they first assumed the 
name of Baptists, until the Roger Will- 
iams organization, A, D. 1639. Mr. Or- 
chard follows those societies down to 
the Mennonites, who were organized 
into societies A. D. 1536, and then rep- 
resents them as being in a divided and 
scattered condition, deserving censure, 
and unworthy the name of disciples, 
representing them as Baptists, and 
25 



194 THE BAPTIST 

says : — 

"These modern "Waldenses are not 
Calvinists, they are not professed Pu- 
ritans, they partake of the amuse- 
ments and diversions of the world, they 
communicate in State order four times 
a year." Dr. Gilly says: "In 1823, 
they do not object to infant baptism" 

But Bapists claim to be the church 
of Christ, and say that Christ's church 
never needed any reformation. 

If Baptists know ( as others do ) that 
they are not apostolic, they deserve 
censure ; but if they do not know it ? 
they deserve pity. I do believe the bet- 
ter informed of them, know better. 

Let us see how the usages of the 
Mennonites will accord with the pres- 
ent usages of Baptists. 

"The Mennonites of the Old world, 
for ages past," says Milner, "have, as 
a general thing, administered baptism 



SKELETON. 195 

by pooling and laying on of hands, 
and the same is true of them in this 
country, both of the old and new con- 
nectione; they are, however, the deci- 
ded opponents of infant baptism in all 
its forms." (The very same as United- 
Christians now practice, except the 
laying on of hands in baptism. ) But 
how does this accord with Baptists, 
who make immersion the door into 
the church! 

As to the views of those people claim- 
ed by Baptists to be the successors of 
the apostles, concerning baptism, we 
have the following from Mr. Orchard : 
( Confession of faith of the Paulicians 
or Paterines, A. D. 850. ) 

"We do from our hearts acknowl- 
edge that baptism is a washing, which 
is performed with water, and doth hold 
out the was/iing of the soul from sin" 
( p. 323. ) 



196 THE BAPTIST 

*Ta this year, 1554, the "Waldenses 
put forth a confession expressive of 
their religious views." ( Mr. Orchard 
takes this quotation from Sleiden. ) 

"Art. 7th. We believe in the ordi- 
nance of baptism, the water is the vis- 
ible and external sign which represents 
to us tliat which by virtue of God's in- 
visible operation is within us. namely 
the renovation of our minds, and the 
'mortification of our members through 
the faith of Jesus Christ; and by this 
ordinance we are received into the ho- 
ly congregation, previously professing* 
and declaring our faith and change of 
life." (Orchard's Hist,, p. 288. ) 

In the confession of faith of the Wal- 
denses, as put forth A. D.1653, we have 
the following : 

Art. 29. That God hath ordained the 
Sacrament of baptism to be a testimo- 
ny of our adoption, and of our being 



SKELETON. 19? 

cleansed from oar sins by the blood of 
Christ, and renewed in holiness of life." 
( Orchard's Hist., pp. 291, 292. ) 

I have given the foregoing extracts 
from Orchard's History, verbatim, on- 
ly I have italicized that part of the ex- 
tracts which relates to the design of 
"baptism, to give it emphasis. 

The design of baptism, as set forth 
in the foregoing confessions is quite 
different from that claimed by modern 
Baptists ; viz., That baptism is design- 
ed to represent the burial and resur- 
rection of Christ. 

Baptism these times seems to be the 
most absorbing subject pertaining to 
the Christian religion. The correctness 
or incorrectness of our views with re- 
ference to baptism, seem to be the 
great test of a standing or falling 
church. With reference to this subject, 
be right or wrong who may, Baptists 



198 THE BAPTIST 

are in error. It is not my object to in- 
vestigate the subject of baptism ; as I 
have a separate work for that pur- 
pose. My object is to test the faith of 
Baptists with reference to that subject. 
Christ says ( John 3 : 5. ), "Except a 
man be born of water and of the Spir- 
it he cannot enter into the kingdom of 
God." If to be born of water, means to 
be baptized with water, then, Christ 
says, Except a man be baptized loitTi 
loater, he cannot enter into the king- 
dom of God. And if Chtist made such 
a declaration, who would assert that a 
man can be saved without water bap- 
tism ! 

Paul says (Rom, 6: 3, 4. ), So many 
of us as were baptized into Jesus 
Christ were baptized into his death. 
Therefore we are buried with him by 
baptism into death ; and by that bap- 
tism, we walk in newness of life. T >Ve 



SKELETON. 199 

have three kinds of death brought to 
view in the scriptures, besides the sec- 
ond death of the wicked. A natural, 
corporeal death, a death in sin, by 
which we are brought into condemna- 
tion ; a death to sin, by which we are 
freed from sin, and made to walk in 
newnes of life. The apostle could not 
have had reference to either of the first 
two of these deaths ; and of course he 
meant a death to sin, and newness of 
life effected "by baptism, be it water or 
Spirit. I was once arguing this subject 
with a Baptist minister, and seeing the 
dilemma in which he was placed, as 
he contended that this was water bap- 
tism, and having a peculiar aversion 
to the views of Mr. Campbell, he said ? 
we are not buried by baptism into 
death, but dead first, and then buried. 
Thus holding an aversion to Campbell 
and a perversion of Paul. 



200 THE BAPTIST 

Again, Paul says ( Gal. 3 : 27. ) , "For 
as many of yon as have been baptized 
into Christ have put on Christ." 

If a man puts on a garment he is in 
that garment: and having put on 
Christ by baptism, we are in Christ. 
And if any man be in Christ, he is a 
new creature. If, therefore, the forego- 
ing scriptures have reference to water 
baptism ( which, however, we are con- 
fident they do not ) , our brethren of 
the Christian Order are just right, and 
all others ( Baptists included ) , are in 
error. But if these scriptures have no 
reference to water baptism, then, Bap- 
tists have no scripture authority for 
immersion, more than any other mode. 

Mr. Orchard, speaking of religious 
schools for the education of ministers, 
gives an account of one established A. 
D. 170. This school was something like 
the Theological Institutions of the pres- 



SKELETON. 201 

ent time, where they teach their young 
students sectarian theology. "In this 
school," says Orchard, "baptism was 
first associated with a learned educa- 
tion. Here minor baptism began with 
gentlemen under age, and afterwards 
gradually descended to boys of seven 
years of age, where it stood for several 
centuries in the hierarchies. Here 
youths were first incorporated and be- 
came church members by baptism : be- 
fore baptism had only signified a pro- 
fession of the religion at large." 
Mr. Orchard continues as follows : 
"In this school human creeds were 
first taught and united with baptism. 

"In apostolic days a simple express- 
ion of faith was required of each can- 
didate" (just such as United-Chris- 
tians require now ), "but in after peri- 
ods, to accommodate the ignorance of 
catechumens, short sentences were 
28 



202 THE BAPTIST 

drawn up for the candidate to utter. 
These sentences were in this school 
improved into a creed or compendium 
of doctrines." (Orch. Hist., p. 65. ) 

Those brief doctrinal sentences re- 
quired by this sectarian or Theological 
School of which Mr. Orchard speaks, 
were about such as Baptists require of 
candidates for membership in their 
churches these times, and call it an ex- 
perience of grace ; the minister using 
about such language as the following : 

"Brother, vdll you please relate to 
the church what you trust the Lord has 
done for your soul." When the broth- 
er is through with his statement ( if he 
has any to make ), as to when he was 
first convicted, and where, and under 
what circumstances (which probably 
was on hearing a Baptist preach ), and 
when he was converted, &c, the minis- 
ter proceeds: — "Brother, do you be- 



SKELETON. 203 

lieve that the Lori^ for Christ's sake, 
has pardoned your sins? Do you de- 
sire to serve the # Lord, and live with 
his people ? Do you believe the Baptist 
Church to be the only apostolic church I 
Do you believe baptism to be the door 
into the church, and immersion the on- 
ly true mode?' 1 

These questions, or something simi- 
lar, and sometimes a great many more, 
being answered in the affirmative, the 
case is submitted to the laity, when one 
will arise ? who probably knows noth- 
ing about experimental religion, or a 
change of heart, and commence his in- 
terrogatories : — "Brother, do you be- 
lieve in experimetal religion ? Do you 
desire to live in such a manner as will 
be for the glory of God? "Would you be 
willing to go to hell, if you thought God 
would thereby be glorified V' All such 
questions, and various others, have 



204 THE BAPTIST 

been put to persons seeking member- 
ship in the Baptist church. 

A cousin of mine, a Baptist minister, 
related a case which once came under 
his observation. A young man made 
application for membership in the 
Baptist church, and the minister re- 
quested him to relate to the church his 
experience, whereupon he gave the 
following : — 

He said he dreamed one night that 
he was crossing over a deep stream of 
water, on a small pole, when he finally 
became greatly alarmed, fearing he 
should fall in. Mean time he heard a 
voice saying: "CanH you coon it? 
can '£ you coon it?" Hearing this, he 
bowed down, and clambered over 'coon' 
fashion, and felt greatly relieved. They 
received him into the church in full 
fellowship, wlien baptized by immer- 
sion. 



SKELETON. 205 

I believe as much as any person in 
experimental religion, or regeneration 
by the Spirit of God; and if a christian 
feels disposed to express his feelings 
on the subject, or tell what the Lord 
has done for him in pardoning his sins, 
or speak of his temptations, doubts 
and fears, &c, I like to hear it. But we 
should not enjoin something in bap- 
tism, and as a prerequisite thereto, 
that neither Christ nor his apostles ev- 
tr required. 

Speaking of the prerequisites to bap- 
tism, Moshiem says: "In the earliest 
times of the church, all who professed 
to 'believe firmly that Jesus was the on- 
ly Redeemer of the world, and who, in 
consequence of this profession, prom- 
ised to live in a manner conformable to 
the purity of his religion, were recei- 
ved among the disciples of Christ. This 
was all the preparation for baptism 



&Q8 THE BAPTISi 

then required." ( Wesley's Abridge- 
ment of MosMem's Hist., Vol. 1, p. 64. ) 

From the foregoing, it is evident that 
the teachings and usages of modern 
Baptists, are not in accordance with 
those of the apostles. Baptists there- 
fore, are only protestant sects, and not 
the church of Christ. 

As there are so many Baptist church- 
es, and all claim to be the true church, 
and yet differing materially from each 
other, it seems to me that they should 
become more reconciled amongst them- 
selves, before they are so loud in their 
acclamations against others. 

Baptists say they are the church that 
was 1260 years in the obscurity of the 
wilderness, and give as a reason, that 
they have been a visible organization 
all the time. But they say the United- 
Christian Church is not the church that 
was in the wilderness, and yet admit 



SKELETON. 207 

that she has been in obscurity 1260 
years, and now makes her visible ap- 
pearance just at the end of that peri- 
od. Strange logic indeed ! 

* "Woe unto them ihat call evil 
good, and good evil ; that put darkness 
for light, and light for darkness." ( Isai. 
5 : 20. ) Then, woe unto Baptists ! "There- 
fore as the fire devoureth the stubble, 
and the flame consumeth the chaff, so 
their root shall be as rottenness, and 
their blossom sha]l go up as dust ; for 
thus saith the Lord of hosts." (Isai. 
5: 24.) Wherefore? "Because they 
have cast away the law of the Lord of 
hosts, and despised the word of the 
Holy One of Israel." 

We will the ways of error shun, 
And after truth and wisdom run. 

* See Title page. 



^08 THE BAPTIST 



CHAP. 11. 

"And after these things I saw another 
angel come down from heaven, having 
great poioer ; and the earth was lighten- 
ed with his glory. 

And he cried mightily toith a strong 
voice, saying, Babylon, the great is fall- 
en, is fallen, and is become the habita- 
tion of devils, and the hold of every 
foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean 
and hateful bird. 

For all nations have drunk of the 
wine of the wrath of her fornication, 
and the kings of the earth have commit- 
ted fornication with her, and the mer- 
chants of the earth are waxed rich 
through the abundance of her delica- 
cies. 

And I heard another voice from 



SKELETON. 203 

heaven, saying, Come oat of Tier my peo- 
ple* that ye he not partakers of her sins, 
and that ye receive not of her plagues. 

For her sins have reached unto heav- 
en, and God hath remembered her in- 
iquities." Rev. 18: 1-5. 

Concluding remarks. 

T~R presenting the few remarks of 
-^ which this chapter will be compos- 
ed, I do not expect to introduce any 
new subject matter, nor produce any 
new arguments upon the subjects pre- 
viously treated. My object at present 
is, to present, by way of recapitulation, 
and in a very condensed form, a few 
facts which are strewn promiscuously 
through the foregoing chapters, that 
the reader may see at one view, the ma- 
ny insurmountable difficulties which 
stand in the way of Baptists, when at- 
27 



210 THE BAPTIST 

tempting to identify themselves with 
the Apostolic Church. 

I will inform the reader that I do not 
expect to be very connect or sj stemat- 
iu in the arrangement of this chapter. 
I expect to present detached passages, 
only, from the different subjects al- 
ready treated. 

1 When was the Christian Church 
instituted? We have ascertained in the 
foregoing pages that the church of 
Christ w T as instituted or first organized 
on the day ofpentecost — the third year 
after John w r as beheaded — and, conse- 
quently, not instituted by John. Bap- 
tists cannot, therefore, be the church 
of Christ, and yet, identify themselves 
with John the Baptist. Besides, Christ's 
followers were called disciples : "And 
the disciples were called christians 
first in Antioch." But the bible no 
where says, the disciples were called 



SKELETON. 211 

Baptists. 

2 In the second place. Baptists claim 
to have been a visible organization, in 
various countries, and in every century 
from the year 33 to the present time. 
The church of Christ was twelve hun- 
dred and sixty years in the wilderness, 
and we have already ascertained that 
the wilderness is obscurity, and obscu- 
rity is darkness. The church of Christ, 
then, being in obscure darkness for 
the space of 1260 years, though in ex- 
istence, was, nevertheless, invisible to 
the world. The Baptist church is not, 
therefore, the church which was 1260 
years in obscurity. 

3. It is already distinctly understood 
that Protestantism is not the church of 
Christ. Mr. Graves assures us that no 
protectant could write the history of 
the church of Christ. But have we not 
abundantly proved, and that by Bap- 



212 THE BAPTIST 

tist testimony, that Baptists are prot- 
tstants in the broadest acceptation of 
the term ? 

4. Baptists identify themselves with 
the JSTovatianists, although the Nova- 
tianist church was a secession from Ro- 
manism, A. D. 251, as attested by Or- 
chard, Graves and Cox. 

5. The fifth item that we will notice 
in this connection is, that Baptists 
identify themselves with the Dcnatists. 
Donatus came into notice as a reformer, 
A. D. 311, just sixty years after the se- 
cession by Novatian. 

After the Donatists, the Paulicians 
constituted the next link we have no- 
ticed in the chain of succession claim- 
ed by Baptists. But our object is, to 
show the difficulties Baptists have to en- 
counter, in traveling this rugA :::A. 
How can Baptists place the Donatists 
in as a link between the Novatiaiiists 



SKELETON, 213 

and the Paulicians, when the Nova- 
tianist churches had spread all over 
the Roman Empire, and were still in 
existence as separate and independent 
churches at the time Donatus made his 
appearance as a reformer ! Moreover, 
the Donatists were schismatics, holding 
the doctrines of Arianism. 

6. The Paulicians made their appear- 
ance about the year 653. The peculiar 
manner of their origin having been 
given in a previous chapter, I will omit 
it here. There is, however, nothing def- 
inite as to the manner of their origin ; 
the testimony of their historians is so 
conflicting, and their history, at best? 
so obscure, that we cannot identify 
them with the apostles : especially, 
wdien we take into consideration the 
peculiarities of their doctrines. They 
maintained that there were a plurali- 
ty of Gods engaged in the creation ; 



214 THE BAPTISE 

that this inferior and visible world is 
not the production of the Supreme Be- 
ing, but rather the work of an inferior 
God; and that the invisible creation is 
the work of the Supreme God. They 
maintained also that Christ, notwith- 
standing he w^as the Son of Mary, 
brought from heaven his human nature. 
The Paulicians, moreover, rejected a 
considerable portion of the inspired 
writings. Yet, notwithstanding all this, 
the Paulicians were apostolic (?), and 
kept alive the flame of true piety du- 
ring the Middle Ages !! Baptists, too, 
are just as apostolic as the Paulici- 
ans (!), maintaining nearly the same 
sentiments that they held. 

7. The next sect that we will notice 
(for so they stand in the order of our 
arrangement), are the followers of 
Waldo. The history of the Waldenses 
is so peculiar, and presents so many 



SKELETON, 215 

features, that we are likely to occupy 
too much time in treating upon their 
various aspects as a religious sect. As 
we have, however, a "brief notice of 
them in the foregoing pages, a few 
items here shall suffice. First, Waldo 
was a communicant in the church of 
Rome: so testify his biographers. He 
protested against that church, and sep- 
arated himself therefrom, about the 
year 1160, and therefore a protestant. 
You remember, moreover, that the 
Waldenses practiced infant baptism. 
Mr. Orchard gives it as a historical fact, 
attested by Dr. Grilly, that they do not 
obj ect to infant baptism. Some of them 
also rejected water baptism entirely: 
so says Milner. Yet Baptists identify 
themselves with the Waldenses, and 
claim to be the church of Christ, and 
assert that Christ's church never need- 
ed any reformation. Never needed any 



218 THE BAPTIST 

reformation of such abuces as we will 
enumerate ! They practice infant bap- 
tism, communicate in State order four 
times a year, enjoy the sweets of tills life y 
partake oj the amusements and diver- 
sions of the world, and have departed, 
in many other respects, from the sim- 
plicity and, true faith of the gospel : 
so say their various historians. Yet, 
Baptists say they need no reformation ! 
8 T will simply remind the reader, 
as I pass along, that Baptists identify 
themselves with the Ana-baptists, and 
3 er 5 testify that Ana-baptists were fa- 
natics, polygamists and insergents. 
claiming prophetic powers, miracles, 
&c, about like modern Mormonism, in- 
stituted by Joe Smith. 

9 Baptist writers saj r that those The- 
ological Institutions for the education 
of unregenerated men for ministers of 
the gospel, are instrumental in sending 



SKELETON, 217 

out the three unclean spirits like a frog. 
Baptists are, therefore, extensively en- 
gaged in sending out those spirits ; as 
they have, in America, 32 Colleges ; 14 
Theological Seminaries; about 100 A- 
cadimies and high Schools ; 4? Period- 
ical organs ; besides more than 1000 
students in College preparing for the 
ministry. Who would wonder at hear- 
ing the frog croak ! 

10. Baptists identify themselves with 
the Mennonites. Menno organized his 
followers into societies A. D. 1536, and 
in 1871, according to Milne r, they were 
stronger, numerically, than the Baptist 
church. How comes it to pass, then, 
that Baptists identify themselves with 
the Menno nit es, when they both exist 
at the same time, as separate and in- 
dependent churches ? If the Mennon- 
ites are right, and Baptists were ever 
connected with them, why did they 
28 



&W THE BAPTIST 

not continue with them? But if they 
are wrong, why should Baptists wish 
to be identified with them? But the 
Mennonites baptized almost invaribly 
by pouiing : so testifj^ their historians* 
11. In searching the scriptures form- 
formation, we have never found a Bap- 
tist church, nor an individual called by 
the name of Baptist, since John was 
beheaded, A. D. 30. Commencing with 
the first secession from Romanism, 
which took place A. D. 251, we follow 
the line of dissenters through the vari- 
ous denominational names which they 
have assumed, down to the year 1536, 
when the Mennonite church was organ- 
ized — No Baptist church yet! When, 
then, was the Baptist church organ- 
ized? Of course, some time since the 
year 1536 : but their historians have 
not given us the date. There is, there- 
fore, a space intervening between the 



SKELETON, 219 

rhureh of Christ, as organized on the 
day of penteeost, and the organization 
of the Baptist church, of at least fifteen 
hundred years. Baptists cannot, there- 
fore, identify themselves with the 
apostles. 

12. How do the views of modern Bap- 
tists, respecting the design of "baptism, 
accord with those of the primitive chris- 
tians? Baptists maintain that water 
baptism was ( and is ) designed to rep- 
resent the burial and resurrection of 
Christ. But this view of the subject has 
been adopted by modern Baptists: it 
was not entertained by primitive chris- 
tians; they maintained that baptism 
signified or symbolized the purifying 
influence of the Spirit of God upon the 
heart. ( See Moshiem's account of 
primitive christians, as given in the 
preceding chapter of this w^ork. )" Bap- 
tists also maintain that baptism is the 



220 THE BAPTTS3 

door into the church; hut primitive 
christians entertained quite a different 
view of the subject. Orchard, speaking 
of religious schools in the earlier times 
of Christianity, says : Here youths 
were first incorporated and became 
church members by baptism : before, 
baptism had only signified a profession 
of the religion at large" — a badge of 
Christianity — So United-Christians now 
maintain. I have administered baptism 
to those who were not members of the 
United-Christian Church at the time, 
and said they did not expect to become 
such. This is conclusive evidence that 
United- Christians do not make bap- 
tism the door into the church. 

13. Baptists require that each candid* 
ate for baptism and church-member- 
ship, gives a relation of his conviction, 
conversion, &c, and call it an experi- 
ence of grace. Says Mr. Orchard : "In 



SKELETON. 227 

apostolic days a simple expression of 
faith was required of each, candidate/* 
Moshiem says : "In the earliest times 
of the church, all who professed to be- 
lieve firmly that Jesus was the only 
Redeemer of the world, and who, in 
consequence of this profession, prom- 
ised to live in a manner conformable 
to the purity of his religion, were re- 
ceived among the disciples of Christ/ 
This was all the preparation for bap- 
tism then required." 

United-Christians require of each 
candidate for baptism, that he believes 
with all his heart that Jesus Christ is 
the Son of God. 

Further evidence to prove that the 
Baptist church is not apostolic, is un- 
necessary. 

No doubt but Baptists will consider 
the foregoing as harsh and offensive : 
but indeed it is simple matter of 'fact, 



222 THE BAPTIST 

Let us reason a little. Baptist minis- 
ters often say, with, reference to com- 
munion, that they do not contend for 
close communion, but for close bap- 
tism. ( That is, that all should be im- 
mersed. ) They say they are willing 
to commune with all christians, but 
they would like for them to wash their 
dirty faces, before coming to the table. 
The Pharisees reproached Christ in 
about the same manner, and no doubt 
with as much sincerity, as Baptists re- 
proach us, saying, "Wiiy do thy disci- 
ples transgress the tradition of the el- 
ders ? for they wash not their hands 
when they eat bread. But he answer- 
ed and said unto them, Why do ye al- 
so transgress the commandment of 
God by your tradition?" 

He then retorts: "Ye hypocnfefl, 
well did Esaias prophesy of ; on say- 
ing, This people dravveth nigh urfome 



8 K E L E T O 1ST . 223 

with their mouth, and honoureih me 
with their lips ; "but their heart is far 
from me." 

We transgress Baptist tradition, on- 
\y, by refusing to be immersed; for 
many of their ministers admit that the 
bible does not settle the mode of bap- 
tism ; and they transgress the com- 
mandment of God by their tradition : 
for God commands his disciples to 
love one another; and Baptists, through 
their tradition, hold perpetual preju- 
dice against others. 

My Baptist friends, time is not yet 
ended, and there will be a hereafter, 
both of time and of eternity; and the 
best way is to become, at once, recon- 
ciled to the teachings of the bible, and 
consequently reconciled to each other. 
I have endeavored to be very mild ; but, 
as Paul says, If I come again I will not 
spare! Or, as he says again, Iwill 



224 THE BAPTIST 

(probably) use harshness. 

After Jesus charges the Pharisees 
with hypocrisy ( Matt. 15 : 7, ), he adds : 

"But in vain they do worship me, 
teaching for doctrines the command- 
ments of men." * ~* * •* 

"Then came his disciples, and said 
unto him 9 Knowest thou that the Phar- 
isees were offended, after they heard 
this saying?" 

Yes, always offended at the truth. 

And now, little volume, 

Like a dove from the ark, 
Released from your prison, 

And sent out to work, 
Gro forth on your mission. 

And never return, 
Till vict'ry through Jesus 

Your labors shall crown. 



